When Everything Changes
by SharonMustGoFirst
Summary: A tragic accident will turn Sharon Raydor's life upside down. Who will she lean on when times get tough?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was just after 10:30 pm on Saturday night when the Major Crimes team closed their current case. This case left the entire team exhausted. They had been working for the last 32 hours straight trying to solve their case.

When Sharon got home, she immediately went to check on Rusty. She felt horrible leaving him home alone for so long. The two of them had been getting along so well. She enjoyed having him there and she was starting to feel like he was actually happy being there with her. She might not be his mother, but she loved him just as she did her own children.

Sharon was so exhausted; she did not even need a glass of wine. She changed her clothes and fell straight into bed. She had only been a sleep a few hours when she heard her iPhone ringing. She had not fully opened her eyes to read the screen on her iPhone when she answered, "Captain Raydor".

When Sharon heard her father's voice on the other end of the line, her heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach. "Dad what's wrong, is Mom ok?" she managed in almost a whisper.

"She's fine honey, it's it's your sister. There has been an accident, we need you to come home right away," Bob Thomas says. Sharon could hardly breath, she knew what those words meant. She had used them numerous times during notifications. Bob Thomas knew that his daughters mind was racing a mile a minute and he didn't know what to say to her. He was barely able to keep it together himself. All he could say to Sharon was, "She's gone honey, please come home."

Scrolling through her phone, she called the first person she could think of, Lt. Andy Flynn.

Andy answered is phone with a very sleepy "Flynn…" When he heard her voice, he sat up quickly knowing immediately that something was wrong.

"Andy, its Sharon. I am sorry to bother you, but I did not know who else to call. I have a family emergency and I have to leave town right away. I know this is a lot to ask, but would you mind watching after Rusty while I'm gone?" Andy did not ask any questions, he knew it must be serious for her to call him. All he could say was, "I will be right over" and he hung up the phone.

Sharon sat in her bed for a moment pulling herself in to Raydor mode. She got right out of bed and started packing her bags. As she finished zipping her bag, she heard a knock at her door.

She opened the door to find Andy holding two cups of coffee. "I thought you might need this", Andy said as he walked in her condo.

In a shaky voice Sharon said, "Andy that's so thoughtful of you. I am so sorry to have called you tonight. I know you haven't had much sleep."

Andy could see her body shaking as she tried to keep her emotions in check. The only other time he had seen her this way was the night that Rusty ran off. It killed him to see her like this. She would not allow him to comfort her before, but this time he did not hesitate to wrap his arms around her. At first her body was stiff and just as he was about to pull away he felt her wrap her arms around him. He pulled her tighter against his chest as he heard her start to cry. He kissed the top of her head knowing that there wasn't a damn thing he could do to take away her pain.

They stood there like that for what seemed like forever before she started to pull herself together. Sharon did not want to let him see her like this, but when she felt his warm arms around her, she could not take the pain any longer.

All she could manage to say to Andy was "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to", but he did not even let her finish "Sharon you don't have to apologize for anything."

That was all it took before she went right back into Raydor mode. "Andy I don't know all of the details, but my sister was killed tonight in an accident. I do not know how many days I will be gone. There is money on the counter for Rusty's lunch and anything else he might need. You can stay here with him or take him back to your place after he wakes up tomorrow. I think I should wake him and tell him tell him goodbye."

She went into Rusty's room and in her soft motherly voice, she gave him a little shake and said, "Rusty I need you to please wake up, I need to talk to you."

It took Rusty a second to realize he was not dreaming when he said "Sharon I don't have school today."

"I know Rusty. Please wake up, it's important" and with that Rusty sat up in his bed. He could tell by looking at her that she had been crying. "Sharon what's wrong, are you ok?"

Sharon was sitting on the edge of his bed when she finally said "Rusty I need to go away for a few days. It is my family…. My sister, she was in an accident. Lieutenant Flynn is here and he is going to look after you until I get back. Rusty please be on your best behavior for him."

"Why can't I go with you?" Rusty said.

Sharon forced herself to stay focused and said "Rusty I can't argue about this right now. Please stay with Lieutenant Flynn."

Rusty finally answered her, "Okay, I will" and then he hugged her.

She hugged him back and with tears starting to slip out and kissing his cheek she said, "I have to go now" and she pulled away trying to keep him from seeing her cry.

Rusty knew that the best thing he could do for her right now was to let her go and after she left he would find out from Lieutenant Flynn what was going on.

Andy got up from her couch when he saw her coming down the hall. "Text me when you get there, okay" is all he said before kissing her forehead.

Sharon nodded her head silently agreeing. She picked up her things and walked out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter has a lot going on, but I promise it will get better as the story goes on. Please continue to R&R.

Chapter 2 A Long Ride Home

Sharon's flight landed in Salt Lake City just a few minutes after 7:00 am. She was on her way to pick up her rental car when she remembered the one request Andy made and so she sent him a quick text , Hi. My flight just got in. I know I wasn't able to say it before, but thank you for taking Rusty. I know that I don't have to worry about him when he is with you. Please tell Rusty I will talk to him tonight.

Pulling into her parent's driveway, she started to feel like she was going to be sick. As if not wanting anyone to hear her, she quietly scolds herself "Sharon Raydor now is not the time to fall apart. Clear you mind and focus on your family. You can fall apart once everything has been taken care of." She opens the car door and takes a deep breath trying to calm herself.

Finding the spot that her parents have always kept the spare key she says, "Some things never change". Key in hand, she unlocks the front door. She started with the family room, it was empty. Moving towards the kitchen, she heard some movement upstairs. She made her way up to her parent's bedroom to find her father sitting in a chair by her mother's bed. He got up as quick as he could and wrapped his arms around her.

In a heartbreaking whisper Sharon heard, "She hasn't been a sleep for long. Let's go down stairs and talk so we don't wake her."

Turning away from the bed, Sharon noticed someone curled up to her mother's side. Moving closer she gasped and covered her mouth, "It's Maddie!" She couldn't fight the tears back any longer. Unable to move from the side of the bed she watched her sister's daughter sleeping peacefully. Seeing Maddie lying there, she had to fight the urge to take the little girl in her arms and never let her go.

Entering the kitchen Bob suddenly stopped and turned to Sharon. "I'm sorry honey, I should have told you about Maddie. I just, I just couldn't" was all Bob was able to manage to get out before he started sobbing.

Until this very moment, Sharon had never seen her father cry. Knowing that she couldn't do anything to ease his pain she just stood there in held him. "It's ok, I'm here now Dad. I'm here". Sharon wasn't sure how long they had been standing there when she heard her father mumbling something.

"Sharon I need you to do something for me. The officer in charge said that someone needed to, someone needed to identify them. I just can't do it." Trying not to let her emotions show in her voice, she asked her father for the officer's number.

Sargent Todd Quinn the officer in charge of accident agreed to meet with Sharon at the Salt Lake City M.E. office at 10:00 am. She didn't want to do the identification, but she knew there was no point in prolonging the inevitable. At least this would give her enough time to shower and have some coffee before she would need to leave.

Standing in the shower Sharon's mind wondered off to the Barlow family. It had been just a few weeks ago, that she had to break the news to Mr. and Mrs. Barlow that they were only able to save one of their children. At the time, all she could think about was her two children and Rusty. It would kill  
her if anything had happened to any of them. Standing there with the hot water beating down on her skin Sharon allowed herself a few minutes to morn her sister.

Arriving promptly at 10:00, Sharon walked up to the front desk and asked for Sargent Quinn. The Sargent was sure she would have questions for him, so they quickly moved into an empty office.

Sargent Quinn explained that her sister's family had been traveling south bound on highway 415 when a deer ran out in front of the car causing the driver to lose control. The car went down a small hill and smashed into a few trees that line the bottom of the hill. The impacted killed her sister and brother in law instantly, but thankfully Maddie had only ended up with a broken arm and some stitches on her forehead.

The next few days leading up to the funerals seemed to be a blur for the entire family. After the services, everyone gathered at the Thomas house. Bob and Vivian sat together on the couch with Maddie as visitors stopped by to give their condolences. Sharon tried to keep everything in order; she knew that keeping busy was the only way she was going to make it through this day. She told her children she needed to get some fresh air and asked them to keep an eye on their grandparents for a few minutes.

Sharon was sitting on the porch swing out back when she felt a hand lightly squeeze her shoulder. She turned quickly to see Rusty standing there. She thought for a moment that she was dreaming, surely Andy would have told her that they were coming. When she heard Rusty say "Hey….", she knew it wasn't a dream. She got to her feet quickly and hugged him. It wasn't until she pulled back from Rusty that she saw it wasn't just Rusty and Andy that came, the entire squad was there. Never in her life had a group of people touched her heart the way HER squad did at that very moment. Tears filled her eyes as she walked around and hugged each of them. Once she had made her way around the circle, she told everyone to go in and eat. As the group went inside Andy slipped his hand into hers and asked her to talk with him for a minute.

Once it was just the two of them Andy motioned for her to sit down on the swing. They sat there for a moment in complete silence before Andy finally spoke. "I'm sorry, I should have told you that we were coming. When I told Provenza I was going to need off to bring Rusty he put all of this together. I know it's hard to believe sometimes, but he really does have a heart in there somewhere."

That last comment made Sharon laugh for the first time in days. She had noticed over the last few days that every time she talked with Andy she felt a little calmer afterwards. She wasn't sure when the transformation from Lt. Flynn to just Andy her friend had taken place. At this moment she didn't really care, she was just happy he was there.

Andy could see that she was struggling to keep her emotions at bay, so he slid over and pulled her into his arms. He held her as tight as he could while she finally let everything go. After a short while, he could feel her starting to relax and slowly she started to calm down.

Trying not to look up at him, in a low voice Sharon spoke "Andy I need to stay for a few more days. My sister's attorney contacted us yesterday morning and wants to go over her will Friday morning. You have done so much for me, I hate to ask…"

"You don't have to ask. Rusty can stay with me until you get everything taken care of." Nudging her side a little he said, "Don't tell him, but it has been kind of nice having him around."

When Friday morning finally came around the family gather in Mr. Stewarts office for the reading of the will. "I know that this is a very difficult time for you and so I will try to keep this as short as possible. My main concern here today is representing Greg and Emily's wishes in regards to Maddie. As you all know Greg was an only child and both of his parents are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Greg and Emily both knew how much you love your granddaughter however, their last wishes was that Sharon become Maddie's legal guardian." Mr. Stewart's words cut through Sharon like a knife.

Sharon immediately turned to her mother. The last thing Sharon wanted to do was cause her parents more pain, but to her surprise, her mother didn't look upset. Instead, Vivian offered Sharon a weak smile. As Mr. Stewart wrapped everything up, he had mentioned that he had one last thing for the family. Emily had left a note for her parents, Sharon, and Maddie.

Sharon drove her parents back to their house in silence. When they got out of the car, Vivian asked "Sharon to sit with her outside for a moment. Uncertain of what her mother was going to say she sat down with her on the front porch. The two women sat in silence until Vivian was ready to talk. Sharon you have held this family together this past week. I know it has been hard on you and I'm sorry that you had handled everything. Look at me Sharon. I'm not upset that Emily wanted you to take Maddie. I know that you and Emily drifted apart over the years but she never stopped loving you. We both know why she wants you to have Maddie and as much as I love that child, I understand why she belongs with you."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Turn of Events

Andy woke just after 1:00 am to the sound of Sharon's rustling with her things in the dark. She had not expected to find a half asleep, half dressed Andy on her coach when she returned home. " Hey, I thought your flight didn't come in until tomorrow", Andy said in a sleepy voice as he sat up off the coach.

"And I thought the two of you were staying at your place. Please tell me that you have not been sleeping on my coach the enter time I was gone," Sharon said as she sat down in the chair across from Andy.

Rubbing a hand over his face trying to wake up Andy explaining that he and Rusty compromised with switching between her place and his place every few nights. Andy felt it was the least he could do for Rusty. He knew that Rusty would never admit it, but the boy did miss Sharon and Andy could tell that Rusty was out of his comfort zone when they were at his place.

Sharon had called Andy after the events that took place at Mr. Stewarts office. She was worried that moving the little girl so far away from her grandparents would only make the loss of her parents even harder. The fact that Sharon was not particularly close with Maddie only added to her long list of concerns. She only saw the child at Christmas, if work didn't interfere and now the poor things was going to have to live with her.

Looking around , it dawned on Andy that Sharon had returned home alone. "Sharon, where is Maddie?"

With a heavy sigh Sharon rose from her chair and went into the kitchen before responding to Andy. "My parents and I decided that it might be best to give Maddie a little extra time with them before bring her here. "

Opening the cupboard she grabbed a wine glass and headed to the fridge. She proceeded to explain the situation to Andy while pouring a glass of wine, "It also provides me with some extra time to figure out how this is all going to work out. I have to figure out our living arrangements, she will need to be enrolled in school, and child care after school. I can't have her in at the office everyday and I surely can't have her home alone. "

Andy knew that all of this had been building up from the moment the news had been delivered to the family. He could see that she was finally starting to unravel and who could blame her. She had just been through a week of pure hell and now her life was about to be turned upside down yet again. Andy could tell by the way that Sharon was with Rusty that she was a wonderful mother. That didn't change the fact that now she was many years older and had a job that require a good amount of her time. It was hard enough for her to leave Rusty to tend to himself so much and now what would happen with a smaller child in the mix.

When Andy saw the tears trickling down Sharon's cheek he felt his heart breaking for this women. He wrapped her in a bear hug and whispered in her ear, " It will all work out. If anyone can make this work, you can. Sharon we all see how great you are with Rusty, any kid is lucky to have you."

Sharon allowed herself to get lost in his arms. She was a strong person, but sometimes carrying what felt like the weight of the world by herself was more than she could bear. When she finally spoke, her voice was filled with sadness "Andy, she isn't like any other child. There are things, things she won't understand. Things I don't want to have to tell her. Things I shouldn't have to tell her."

Sharon was angry with herself for falling apart like this. For days her heart had ached for the loss of her sister and she just couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want to feel the pain any longer. Standing in Andy's arms at that exact moment in her kitchen something snapped. Looking up into Andy's eyes she couldn't say what exactly made her do it, but she softly brushed her lips against his. When Andy didn't pull away she moved her hands up his bare chest and around his neck to pull him closer. She needed him closer. She needed him to make her feel something other than pain.

They could both feel that heat and passion rising between the two of them. With wondering hands and lips Sharon couldn't even form any reasonable thoughts. The pure pleaser that she felt running through every inch of her body had her completely lost. And with all reasoning out the window she kissed her way up to Andy's ear, where she whispered to him, "make love to me Andy".

Suddenly Sharon felt Andy's enter body harden under her touch. Andy slowly pulled away from her knowing that she felt him tense up. .She felt a familiar pain sting her heart. Sharon was hurt and embarresed. She had just made a fool of herself with Lt. Flynn, so she did what she did best and started to pull the walls up around her heart. "Lt. Flynn, I'm sorry I don't know what came over me. That was very unprofessional of me and I can assure you that it won't happen again. Please feel free to stay on the coach if you don't feel like driving home at this late hour" and with that she turned to walk away from him before he could see the tears.

When she felt his warm hand tightly grab her arm she froze not able to face him. He moved close to her, he wanted to hold her again, but he knew she wouldn't allow it. "Sharon, it's not what you think."

Filled with anger she turned to him, "it's not what I think! Oh please Andy tell me what I should think then. Why would you kissed me like that if you didn't want... "

Andy didn't even let her finish. "Sharon if we do this tonight we both know you are going to wake up with regrets. I don't want that. When I make love to you, and I say when because I fully intend to one day in the near future, I want to wake up the next morning holding you in my arms knowing that I will see a smile on your face when you finally wake up. If we do this tonight Sharon, we both know I would be taking advantage of you. You have to know that I could never allow myself to do that do you. Sharon look at me. Look in my eyes. I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere. "

Andy took her chin in his hand and titled her face up so she had to look into his eyes. "You are what I want Sharon, but not like this. You have to deal with the grief." He kissed her check and took her hand in his leading her to her bedroom. "Let me hold you tonight. I will wake up before Rusty gets up and slip back out to the coach."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When Rusty woke up Saturday morning he wondered into the living room to see if Andy was up yet. When Rusty saw, the blanket folded neatly sitting on top of the pillow he knew Andy was already awake. He went into the kitchen, where he saw a note from Andy.

Got a call early this morning from work. See you when I see you. Andy

Rusty was checking the ridge for breakfast when he heard a cell phone ring. He knew that ringtone, but Sharon wasn't supposed to be home until this afternoon. He went towards the table by the front door where Sharon normally kept her keys and phone and to his surprise, he saw her bags. He turned quickly and made a beeline to her bedroom. Since the door was cracked, he took a peak in and saw Sharon sleeping peacefully.

Rusty had missed Sharon over the last week and he wanted to do something nice for her, so he set out to make breakfast for her. He went into the kitchen and quickly made her favorite omelet, toast, and a cup of her favorite tea. He found a tray and got everything ready to take into her room.

Rusty gently nudged Sharon trying to wake her up. "Sharon, I made breakfast for you", Rusty said with smile on his face.

It took Sharon a minute to wake up and realize what Rusty was saying to her. She sat up slowly looking at the breakfast her had brought her.

Still a little groggy Sharon said, "Rusty, you didn't have to do all of this."

"There isn't anything wrong with me making you breakfast once in a while", Rusty said putting the tray down in front of Sharon.

"Rusty this looks delicious, as always. Sit down and talk with me. Did anything exciting happen at school last week?"

"Nope, nothing exciting happened at school. It was just as boring as any other week."

As she reached over the tray and brushed Rusty's hair out of his face, she asked, "How did things go with Lt. Flynn? Did the two of you get along okay?"

"Yeah, we did okay. Did you know that he likes to cook? He showed me how to make a few new things. I will make them for you sometime. Maybe I could cook dinner for the two of you one night?"

"That sounds nice Rusty, I'm sure Lt. Flynn would like that. Rusty, I want to talk with you about last week."

The image of Sharon when she got up from the swing after the funerals and how sad she had looked took over Rusty's thoughts. He didn't want to talk with her about what happened. Right now sitting there in her bed talking with him, she looked like the old Sharon. He didn't like to see her sad, like she was that day and he was afraid that if they talked about it she would be sad again. "It's okay; we don't have to talk about it. I understand. Your family needed you and I didn't mind staying with Lt. Flynn. Don't tell him, but he is pretty funny."

"I'm glad that the two of you got along, but Rusty we do need to talk. I have always been honest with you and I always keep my word, but first you need to know that I have enjoyed having you with me. I forgot what it was like to be a mom and just how much I missed it. You made me remember. You made me think about things I haven't thought about in a long time. Rusty, you made me happy again."

Rusty's face froze. All of the color quickly drained from his body and if Sharon hadn't known, better she would have thought he was going to be sick right then and there. In a cold tone, Rusty said, "So this is my 30 day notice."

"What….30 day notice. Oh Rusty no! What I'm trying to tell you is that we are going to have to make some changes to our living arrangements. By that I mean, I think we are going to need a bigger place to live. What I'm trying to tell you Rusty is that Maddie is going to be coming to live with us." Sharon didn't take her eyes off of him for a second. She knew that he would never tell her how he had felt about the changes that were about to happen, but she could always read his face like the cover of a book.

Poor Rusty didn't know if he should be relieved or worried about this news. He and Sharon had just started to really get along and now her niece was going to come live there too. He mentally kicked himself for thinking that. The kid had just lost her parents. He shouldn't be jealous about her coming to stay with them, but he couldn't help but feel that he didn't want to share Sharon.

While Sharon and Rusty were sorting out how their lives would change with Maddie moving in to the picture, Flynn and Provenza were just heading back to the office.

Andy could tell that something was up with Provenza, but couldn't tell exactly what had him in such a foul mood. "Louie, is your oldest daughter still selling real state?"

Provenza glared at Andy for a few minutes before he answered him with a hint of sarcasm. "Yeah, why are you looking for a bigger place?"

"No, the Captain is going to need a bigger place. Her sister's kid is going to be moving here with her. Her apartment is too small for the three of them. "

"So you're not only the Captain's baby sitter, but now you're looking for her a house. Good God, what's next? Are you going to be interviewing nannies for her?"

Almost snapping his toothpick in half, Andy growls, "What the hell is your problem Louie? She just lost her sister, since when is it a crime to help a coworker out?"

"Oh please Andy. I noticed what was going on with the two of you for a while ago and I kept my mouth shut, but this is going too far. At what point did the two of you forget that she was your boss? When did Rule Book Raydor, toss all of her rules out the window? I have tried to get along with that woman, but I'm telling you I will not stand by and let her break your heart. "

Andy felt like someone took a baseball bat to his stomach! He couldn't help but wonder how Provenza could have known about them. The two of them didn't even know until about a month ago. They had just closed the identity theft case and solved the murder of Detective Adams. Andy thought back to the day in her office when he was ready to climb over her desk and grab Detective Connors, when she touched his arm trying to calm him down. Something in her touch that day was different then it had been before.

That night they both seemed to find a reason to stick around the office until the rest of the team left. When she was ready to go, Andy offered to walk her out. He tried to figure out a way to approach the subject with her when they were in the elevator, but he just couldn't find the right way to bring it up. Sharon saw the look on his face and knew he was deep in thought. He always got the look right before he cracked something open on a case. Just before the elevator door went to open Andy hit the emergency stop button. He had no clue what he was doing, but it was too late to change his mind now. When he turned to face her, the confused expression on her phase made him smirk. He brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and touched her check with his hand. When she leaned into his touch, he moved in and brushed her lips with his. Before he even had a chance to do anything else, she stepped forward and put her free hand on his chest. With that, he slid his hand around her waist to pull her body directly to his and kissed her again. All of the sudden Andy heard Provenza's grump voice again.

"FLYNN snap the hell out of it. You know I'm right. Do you really think she is going to put her job on the line to be with you? This has disaster all over it. I know you don't want to hear this, but you have to end it with her."


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you all for the reviews! I know this chatper is a little short, but there will be more soon...

Chapter 5

The Major Crimes squad had spent all day working every angel of their recent murder, but every possible lead they looked at turned out to be a dead end. They had been at this case for hours and you could tell that it was starting to get the best of them, when the door swung open and Sharon and Rusty walked in with pizzas. Andy had told her the night before to take some extra time off to get things in order for Maddie's arrival, but she couldn't help herself. She had been away from the office for too long as it was and she knew she was going to have so much paperwork to go through.

Sanchez was the first to jump out of his chair to go free the Captain from the boxes she was caring "Smells good Captain, thanks!"

Noticing Andy get up from his desk and leave the room Sharon tried to smiles at Sanchez for helping her, "Rusty and I thought all of you could use a little break and of course he was hungry, so here we are."

Sharon had been sifting through paperwork for a good 20 minutes when she looked up and noticed Andy had not came back to the squad room yet. Knowing that he was probably in the break room she took her teacup and slipped out her side door.

Entering the break room Sharon cleared her throat causing Andy to look up. Normally he would flash her that smile that always made butterflies in her stomach, but this time the look on his face had her a little concerned. "Rusty and I brought pizza in for everyone, are you not hungry?"

Andy could tell by the expression on her face that she knew something was going on. "No, I'm fine."

He didn't know what else to say, so he poured his coffee and started to walk back to his desk when she gently touched his arm. "Andy is something wrong?"

Looking into her eyes Andy couldn't seem to form an intelligent thought, "Um, uh, no."

He knew he was in trouble when she withdrew her hand from his arm and turned away from him. "I thought you were going to take a few days off."

She continued to make her tea in silence, trying to figure out what she had missed. "Is that what's going on?"

Andy shook his head, "Nothing's going on. I think I'm going to go grab a slice of that pizza before Rusty eats it all."

Just as before his hand touched the doorknob she spoke one last time, "Andy, this will only work if we are completely honest with each other. I'm here when you're ready to talk." And with that, she was done. She walked passed him and right back to her office.

After an hour of reading through paperwork, she decided to call it a night. She stepped out of her office and told Rusty to gather his things; they would be leaving in 10 minutes.

Provenza quickly glanced over at Flynn and to his surprise; Flynn didn't even bat an eye. Provenza got up from his desk, went into the Captains office, and shut the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Provenza stood in front of Sharon's desk looking at her for a moment before he spoke. He wondered what it was about her that attached Flynn. He just didn't get it, maybe he never would. "Uh Captain…" and before he could say anything else, Flynn flung the door open.

You would have thought the building was on fire the way he stormed in on them. You could hear the irritation in his voice, when he said, "I think I found what we were looking for, could you come take a look at this Lieutenant?" Both men turned without saying a word and walked out to Flynn's desk. Trying to keep his temper and not let anyone else hear him, he asked Provenza what the hell he was doing. "You can be pissed at me, you can tell me you want me to end it, you can tell me whatever the hell you want to, but you DO NOT say a word to that woman", and with that he pushed some financial statements into Provenza's hands that provided the connection between their victim and the Cartel. Flynn grabbed his coat off the back of his chair and left.

Sharon watched the exchange between the two men and even though she was not able to hear what was going on between them, she knew that something wasn't right. During the time she had spent monitor the team during the lawsuit, she never once saw Andy that upset with Provenza. The fact that Andy was giving her the cold shoulder only made her worry even more. With a sigh, she got up from her desk, gathered some paperwork to read over later, and went out to get Rusty.

Provenza was so engrossed in the financial statements that he almost didn't notice her and Rusty getting ready to leave. "Captain, before you go… here is my daughter's card. Flynn mentioned that you might need to find a bigger place. She is very good at what she does. Give her a call and she will take care of everything for you."

Looking at the card, Sharon smiled and thanked him. As she walked to the car with Rusty she couldn't help wonder if her situation had something to do with Flynn's sudden mood change. They had agreed to keep their relationship a secret for now and so she knew that if he confided in Provenza about them, that something must be wrong. What if he didn't like the idea of Maddie coming to live with her? What if after having Rusty for a week he had decided that he didn't want to be with someone that had children. Her heart ached when she thought that maybe Andy didn't think she was worth dealing with all the extra baggage in her life.

When they arrived back at Sharon's apartment she couldn't fight the urge to text Andy any longer. She pulled out her phone and sent him a quick text, You're right, I need a bigger place. I'm meeting with Kelly tomorrow to see a few places.

She knew that she was over reacting earlier, but she wanted confirmation from him that everything was okay between them. She kept her phone close with her that night waiting for him to reply. When 10:00 pm rolled around and she had not heard back from him she was half tempted to call Provenza. She was worried that if something had Andy this upset that he might try to drink his worries away.

A little while later, her phone rang…. It was ANDY! Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she answered the phone. He didn't even give her a chance to say anything other than hello, when he interrupted asking her if it was ok for him to come over. Not 10 minutes later Andy was knocking on her door.

When she opened the door, they just looked at each other not knowing exactly what to say. She stepped aside from the door and motioned for him to come in. He went straight in and sat down on the couch. He sat back for a second rubbing a hand over his face.

Sharon stood watching as all of her doubts came flooding back. She slowly shook her head trying to shake the thoughts away, when it hit her; he had come here tonight to end things with her.

As if it was his turn to worry and wonder, Andy sat and watched her. He knew she was worried about him and it killed him to know that he was causing her pain. He let out a long sigh and got up off the couch closing the gap that was between them. He ran his hands down each of her arms and then took her hands in his. They stood there looking at each other when they both said, "I'm sorry".

As they both let out a sigh of relief, he put his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. "I know I as a jerk today…. I'm sorry"

"Are we going to talk about what's bothering you?"

"Yeah, but can we just have a minute first? I need this. I need to…I need to hold you just for a minute or two."

Sharon wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her head on his chest, "You can hold me like this for as long as you need." Andy had no idea she needed to be in his arms just as much as he needed her to be in his arms.

When they finally sat down on the couch, he explained to her that Provenza had put two and two together and figured out that something was going on between them. He told her that there was no point in trying to lie to him, he would see right through it. They knew each other to well and could always tell when the other one was bluffing.

Sitting there in silence taking in the fact that they were busted, she took Andy's hand in hers, "That's why you were in such a bad mood? Andy, he is your friend, I would never expect you to lie to him. Honestly, we should have known that he would figure us out. Now do you feel better? "

"Sharon, it's not just that he knows. He told me that I had to end it."

You could hear the hurt in her voice, "does her really hate me that much?"

"Hey, come on, he doesn't hate you."

Pulling her hands away from him, she turned so he couldn't see the stream of tears falling "Is that what you want Andy, do you want to end this?"


	7. Chapter 7

Please note this chapter rating is M - for sexual contant

Chapter 7

The silence that filled the space between them explained everything to Sharon, or so she thought. She started to rise from the coach when she felt Andy's hand in hers. His voice so low she almost didn't hear him when he spoke. "I didn't say that."

Trying to lighten the mood a little Andy leaned into her shoulder saying, "Since when do I do what he says anyway?" Sharon shrugged and leaned the side of her head against his forehead.

When she didn't say anything Andy continued talking, " I'm sorry I upset you. I was mad at Provenza for putting his nose where it didn't belong and I was worried about what would happen to us when you found out that he knew. I charged into your office because I thought he was going to say something to you."

Still sitting there resting her head against his, she asked him what he said to Provenza before he left. "I told him he could be pissed at me, that he could tell me he wants me to end it, he could tell me whatever the hell he wanted, but he better not say a word to you."

He could feel her start to smile a little at the thought of him wanting to protect her for the Big Bad Provenza. That was when he knew he was safe to wrap his arms around her. She let out a slight giggle when he practically pulled her over on to his lap.

She caressed the side of his face before she brushed her lips over his. Deepening the kiss, she wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him as close to her as she could, when he whispered into her lips "I hear that nothing beats make up sex…."

The thought of having any kind of sex with Andy gave her goose bumps. She climbed off his lap and started to lead him to the bedroom, when he snatched her up in his arms. "Andy", she yelped. "Put me down, you're going to hurt yourself."

When they reached the foot of her bed, he gently set her on her feet and slipped over to lock the door. On his way back from to her, he shed his shoes, shirt, and jeans. She stood at the foot of her bed doing the same thing, but the sight of him franticly fumbling with his jeans caused her to laugh.

When he got to her, he lifted her on to the bed, where he placing kissing down the side of her neck. She tilted her head to the side allowing him more access to her neck as she brought her hands up and intertwined them in his hair. He moved his hand down the side of her body causing her to shiver under his touch.

He drew is attention back to her neck and slowly started kissing his way down to her breasts, as she arched to his touch, a small moan escape her lips. Her noises shot waves of excitement through his entire body. He wanted this to be slow, for each of them to enjoy every moment, but he wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to control himself. As he started to kiss his way down her stomach, she intertwined her fingers in his hair again and pulled up into a completely intoxicating kiss. She kissed along his jaw line, until she finally stopped at his ear. In a very low Captain Raydor like voice, she told him that she needed him now.

That was all of the encouragement Andy needed before he shifted his body over hers and entered her. With each moan that escaped her lips, he thrust against her faster pushing the both over the edge. As she clung to his shoulders one last time he allowed himself to let go and a grown of pure pleaser escaped his lips.

Not wanting to hurt her, he fell to her side and pulled her tightly against his body. They laid together like that for what seemed like hours, when Andy looked over at the clock and sighed. He knew that he would have to leave soon or he would be taking a chance of Rusty catching him leaving. With that, he kissed her on the lips softly whispered to her, "I should get going before the sun comes up."

He saw her frown and chuckled. Looking up at him with pleading eyes she says, "You know, you don't have to leave if you don't want to." He didn't know what to say, he never expected her to ask him to stay. He kissed her one last time and settled back down beside her. She kissed his chest before she put her head down and with a smile on her face as she signed and said "thank you for staying".


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry it has taken me so long to update! I hope to have another chapter out very soon. Please Read and Review!

Chapter 8

The next morning Andy woke up to the smell of waffles and bacon, when he realized that Sharon was curled up to his side. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her laying there with her head on his chest. He didn't want to wake her, he want to stay there with her in his arms for as long as he could. He decided he would allow himself just a few more minutes to watch her sleep. However, a sudden knock at the door put an end to his few extra moments. Sharon nearly jumped out of the bed when Rusty yell that breakfast was ready.

Sharon's shocked expression caused Andy chuckle. "You're still here", she said with a yawn.

"If I remember correctly you are the one that asked me to stay," he replied trying not to let the disappointment he felt be heard in his voice.

"I know," she said turning away from him. "I'm glad you did, I just don't know how I'm going to explain this to Rusty."

Andy sat on the side of the bed wondering if he should have left earlier as he had planned. He was worried about the amount of stress that she was already under and he didn't want to add to it. With a long sigh and he got up and grabbed his clothes.

Sharon didn't mean to sound as if she hadn't really wanted him to stay, "Andy, what are you doing?"

"It's probably best that I get going." He said trying to act like everything was fine. "You and Rusty have houses to look at today. Remember? "

"You could always come with us", she said quickly.

Andy looked at her a little confused. "Is that really what you want?"

They were both afraid of saying the wrong thing and ending up right back were they had started. Holding the blanket tightly around her she made her way to his side of the bed. She thought that right now actions would speak louder than words. She didnt even give him any time to protest when she pulled him into a kiss. Her lips brushed a crossed his softly at first, but as she pulled him closer to her she deepened the kiss.

When Sharon broke the kiss Andy just looked at her and smiled..."I will take that as a yes."

He kissed her one last time and left her bedroom. Walking towards the kitchen, he saw Rusty sitting at the table finishing his breakfast.

"Coffees over there. I put out a mug for both of you." Rusty said trying not to fall off his chair in laughter from the expression Andy had.

"Looks good kid...Listen we both know she is going to be a little freaked out when she comes out here. You ok with all of this?"

This time Andy about feel out of his chair when Rusty said, "Do I have a choice?" The two of them had gotten along so well before, so Andy had figured it wouldn't be an issue.

"Dude I'm just kidding. It's fine. Just don't hurt her!"

"Don't what?" Sharon said as she came into the kitchen.

Rusty laughed again and got up from the table. "I will leave you two love birds alone."

At that point Andy couldn't help but to laugh too. He couldn't tell if she was going to laugh or cry, but the look in her face was priceless. After he realized how distraught she was, he got up and went to her. "You know he is just trying to get under your skin."

When she suddenly felt Andy's hand on her hip and his lips on her neck, her mind went blank. His touch was enough to drive her crazy. All the sudden he felt her stiffen. When he pulled back from her, she turned to face him and put her hand on his chest in an attempt to keep him away. " NO, NO we are not about to do this here."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I better get going. I need to get a shower and change. Are you sure you want me to come with you and Rusty today?"

"I will have a little talk with him once you leave, but I'm sure he will be fine with it. What were the two of you talking about when I came in?

He wasn't sure what he should tell her. She might be upset that he had said something to Rusty. She could tell that he was thinking a little too hard about his answer, "Andy".

"Oh yeah, listen doing get mad I asked him if he was ok with this. With us."

She had to admit she was a little relieved that she he was the one to break the ice with Rusty. She wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she asked anyway "What did he have to say about it?"

"Actually, he was fine with it. Well other than the fact that he told me not to hurt you."

He could see her trying not to smile, but he knew how much it meant to her that Rusty was ok with the situation and the fact that he was worried about her showed was even more proof that the kid really did care about her.

By 6:30 that night, they were all sick of looking at houses. They had been to over a dozen and all were either too far away from Rusty's school or from the office. They were all ready to throw in the towel, but Provenza's daughter had asked that they look at one more house.

When they pulled up it was a little bigger than what Sharon had in mind, but it was beautiful. Andy couldn't tell if it was the beautiful yard, with several trees and flowers that she loved or it was the house itself. The exterior of the house was your typical stucco with big windows in the front. As they went to go into the house, Sharon asked if they could look at the back yard first.

The back yard was fairly big for a house in the city. There was plenty of grass and a pool. Sharon immediately thought of the photos she received of Maddie on the swim team once. The back porch was huge, which was another plus for Sharon. She loved sitting out on her balcony in the morning reading the paper.

Moving into the house, the kitchen was huge. Rusty thought it was big enough that he and Sharon could cook together. Sharon was impressed with how big all of the bedrooms were and she could tell that Rusty was impressed too. Overall, the house had many things that Sharon liked, but the price was a little more than what she was looking for.

Sharon had noticed that Rusty had been more quite this time, "Rusty what do you think?"

When he turned to talk to her, he had a big grin on his face. "Honestly, I like this house. Did you see how big that kitchen was? And I think one of my friends live kinda close to here. Is it ok if I go check out the back yard again?"

Lauren smiled and offered to go with Rusty out back so Sharon could have a few minutes to look things over again.

Once they were alone, Sharon turned to Andy "What do you think?"

"It is nice, it's big, and I think the kids will love the pool."

"Maddie will love the pool and she could decorate her bedroom anyway she wanted to", she said with a wide smile.

Pulling her into his arms, he said, "Well then I think you might have a winner here."

She wrapped her arms around him smiling at the thought that things might actually workout. She looked up at him with a very serious expression, "Do you really like it? I mean what if…When we… If we…"she felt silly thinking that this could one day be their house. She knew she shouldn't be thinking that far ahead, but at the same time she couldn't help but not think about it.

When Andy realized what she was trying to say a smile spread a crossed, his face like a kid on Christmas morning. "I like any house that has you in it." He brought his hand up to her face and tucked her hair behind her ear before he kissed her. "I mean it. I would go anywhere for you."

When Rusty made his way back up to the bedroom Andy and Sharon were in, he rolled his eyes when he say the two of them kissing. "Is this how it's going to be all the time now with you two? Can you at least get a room? Have you to ever heard of NO PDA?"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The next week past by quickly, as Sharon was busy making preparations for the new house and enrolling Maddie at St. Joseph's. Luckily, the sellers had moved out of the house months ago and had no issues with speeding up the processes. With any luck, they would be moving into the new house in just three weeks. The only thing that was left to work out was actually bring Maddie home.

Sharon had decided that it would be best to drive to Salt Lake City to pick up Maddie and some of her belongings. It was a good 10 hour drive, which Sharon insisted should could handle by herself. She had told Andy that she had made this drive by herself many times when her kids were younger. Andy had no doubt in his mind that she could handle the drive alone, but that wasn't the point. He wanted her to know that she didn't have to do it alone.

They had been sitting on the couch talking about the drive to Salt Lake City when Andy said, "Sharon I know the next few months are going to be tough on all of you. I will to anything I can to help you and the kids. I want to know that. I want you to know that you are not in this alone. I'm right here and I no intentions of leaving anytime soon."

Not knowing exactly how to respond to Andy, she leaned in and kissed him. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but Sharon had never been very good at expressing her emotions. When she broke from the kiss, she placed her head on his should and with a slightly shaky voice she said, "Thank you". With that, Andy pulled her as close to him as he could and held her tightly on the couch until the both ended up falling asleep.

When Friday come rolling around Sharon and Andy were waiting outside of St. Joseph's for Rusty after school let out. Sharon had offered to do most of the driving since Andy had gone into the office early that morning. However, Andy knew she had not gotten a lot of sleep the night before. He suggested that they drive as far as they can and then they stopped at a hotel for a few hours to rest. Sharon agreed, but only if they would be up early enough to arrive at her parent's house by 8:00 am.

When they arrived at the Thomas house just a little after 8:00 am, they were all surprised to find Vivian in the kitchen cooking them all breakfast. The moment Sharon entered the kitchen Vivian stopped what she was doing and gave her daughter a big hug. Then she greeted Andy and Rusty the exact same way. Both looked at each other a little unsure of what to do or say, so they just smiled and thank her for breakfast.

As Sharon was pouring everyone a cup of coffee, she had noticed that he father was not up yet. Bob was normally an early riser and the fact that he was nowhere in sight had her a little worried. "Mom where is dad at?"

Vivian looked around the kitchen, as if she was looking for Bob when she let out a small sigh. "He is with Maddie, she had a rough night last night, and he offered to take care of her so I could rest. He knew that I wanted to be up early to have all of this ready for you. I'm sure he will be up shortly."

Sharon was immediately concerned. "What exactly do you mean she had a rough night?"

Vivian turned away from Sharon hoping that she wouldn't see how much the situation with Maddie had upset her. "She….She has been having horrible nightmares. She wakes up screaming, shaking, and covered in sweat. After the second night I had deiced, to lay down with her when she went to bed and it seemed to help…..a little. She only woke up a few times then."

"Mom why didn't you tell me this when we talked earlier in the week", Sharon said trying to watch the tone she used with her mother.

"Sharon, we both know if I would have said anything about this you would have been on the first flight back here. You had things to take care of Sharon and I needed this time with Maddie", Vivian said trying to keep herself from crying in front of the three of them.

Sharon knew that he mother was right, but she still didn't like the fact that her mother kept this from her. Sharon went over and gave her mother a big hug telling her mother, "You're right Mom. I'm sorry."

By the time, the three of them had finished their breakfast they heard someone moving around upstairs. It wasn't until this moment that everything hit Sharon at once. She suddenly felt as if she were going to be sick. She had been so busy with everything she didn't really think of how she would feel when the time came for her to come for Maddie. She was worried about how her parents would do once Maddie left, she was worried of how Maddie was going to do, and she was worried that she might not be able to handle everything that was going to be thrown at her over the next few months.

Andy immediately saw that something was wrong and he gently grabbed her arm whispering, "Are you ok?" It wasn't until she turned to face him that he realized she wasn't ok. He knew he needed to get Sharon alone for just a few minutes, but he needed to do it without causing Vivian to worry.

Not taking his eyes off of Sharon Andy says, "Mrs. Thomas, would you mind if I borrowed Sharon for a second? I got a call from the office on the way over and need to discuss a case with her for a second."

"Oh not at all. The two of you can talk in Bob's study if you would like."

Grabbing Sharon by the hand Andy thanked Vivian and moved towards the study.

"Andy, what are you talking about", Sharon said in an uncertain tone.

"You looked like you were about to faint back there. What's going on?"

Biting her bottom lip, Sharon replied, "Nothing, I'm fine".

He knew she wouldn't tell him, so he wrapped his arms around her pulling her as close to him as he could. "I meant what I said before. I'm here for the long haul. You're stuck with me now."

Sharon wrapped her arms around his waist and settled her head on his chest before saying, "I'm going to hold you to that statement Lieutenant". The two of them stood there for a few minutes until Sharon said, "I'm ok. We should get back out there."

When the two of them returned to the kitchen Bob and Maddie were sitting at the table with Rusty. Bob smiled at Sharon as soon as he says her. Standing up from his chair Bob said, "Get over here young lady and give your father a hug!"

As Bob sat back down in her chair, he instructed Maddie to get up and give her Aunt a hug. Maddie hesitated for a moment, but knew that when Grandpa said to do something he meant to do it. Reluctantly Maddie got up from her chair and went over to Sharon. The way Sharon and Maddie looked at each other, you would have thought that they were complete strangers. Andy gave Sharon a little nudge forcing her to step towards Maddie. Just as Sharon was about to wrap her arms around Maddie, the little girl turned and ran out of the room as quick as she could.

Bob looked over at Vivian and then he got up from the table to go after Maddie. As Bob went to pass Sharon she softly put her hand on his arm stopping him from going any further. "Dad I think it would be best if I was the one to go talk to her."

Sharon didn't even give Bob time to respond. She turned quickly and went up the stairs to the room Maddie had been sleeping in. She knocked on the door and waited for Maddie to grant her permission to enter. When she received no response, she opened the door easily and peaked inside. She slowly walked over to the bench Maddie was sitting on in front of the large window. "Can I sit down with you", Sharon said in a very low motherly voice, but Maddie just shrugged her shoulders.

"Maddie, I know you don't want me here. I know you don't want to leave with me. Honey, right now all we can do is try to make the best out of the situation we are presented with. You know I went out and bought a new house just for you. It even has a pool."

As soon as Maddie herd the word pool, her head came up a little, and in a very low voice, she said, "Can I swim in the pool?"

Sharon laughed a little before responding, "Of course, the pool is the reason I bought the house. I know how much you love to swim and now you can swim whenever you want."

Maddie with a puzzled look on her face, looked up at Sharon, "How did you know that I like to swim?"

Trying to maintain her calm tone Sharon answered Maddie, "Your mom sent me photos of you at one of your meets. I believe it was when you were nine, no wait, you were 10. You took first place."

"Yeah, I was 10… Aunt Sharon, I'm sorry I didn't hug you" and with that Maddie finally gave Sharon the hug she had needed from some time now.

After the kitchen was cleaned up and everyone had fresh end up, they all knew where they needed to go. Since the accident, Sharon had been the only one to go to her sister's house. Someone needed to get cloths for Maddie and Sharon knew that it would be too much for her mother and father. Now they needed to go pack some of Maddie's things to take back with them to Los Angeles.

Sharon knew that her parents and Maddie would need a little time in the house before they started packing things up, so Sharon sent the three of them over to the house while she took Andy and Rusty to go pick up some boxes. When Sharon, Andy, and Rusty arrived at the house, Sharon had asked them if she could have a moment to herself before she went in. Andy and Rusty got the boxes out of the trunk, but Andy sent Rusty into the house by himself with the boxes.

Once Rusty made his way into the house Andy took Sharon's hand and gave it a squeeze. She smiled at him and moved up the walkway to the front door. Taking a deep breath, holding tightly to Andy's hand, she walked into her sister's house. Andy let her lead the way, allowing her to go as fast or as slow as she needed. When they made their way inside Rusty was standing awkwardly just inside the door.

"I wasn't sure where I should go or what I should do", he said a little uneasy. "Rusty I'm sorry," Sharon said as gave his arm a squeeze. Smiling back at her he said, "It's no big deal".

The three of them moved to the family room, where they found Bob and Vivian sitting on the couch in silence. Vivian was holding a picture of Emily holding Maddie when she was a baby. Sharon motioned for Andy and Rusty to follow her up to Maddie's room. When the three of them reached Maddie's room, Maddie was nowhere to be found. Andy stepped back into the hallway and noticed an open door down the hall, as he peaked into the room he found Maddie laying on her parent's bed. She was snuggling to what looked like a women's robe.

Andy made his way over to the side of the bed where Maddie was and sat down beside her. He didn't speak; he just sat there and stared at the family photo that sat on the nightstand at the side of the bed for a moment. When he finally turned his attention back to Maddie, he realized she had been watching him. "You ok Kiddo?" he said smiling at her, but Maddie just laid there watching him for a minute. When she sat up and pointed at the picture he was looking at and smiled sadly, "You look like him, well not the gray hair."

Andy chuckled a little at her comment, which made Maddie giggle. "My dad's name is…I mean his name was Greg. I know you never met him, but I think you would have liked him. He was funny and he was really smart, so smart he worked on computers for this big company." She looked away from Andy when tears started to slide down her check.

As Andy turned to put his hand on Maddie's shoulder, she whispered something so low  
that Andy couldn't even hear her.

"What is it Maddie?" Andy said.

After a few sniffles she said, "I miss them."

Her words broke Andy's heart. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a big hug. As he heard her sobbing he tightened his grip on her an placed a kiss on the top of her head.


	10. Chapter 10

**Please note this chapter is rated M.**

Chapter 10

Andy had spent most of the night tossing and turning before he decided to get up. He was on his way down to the kitchen when he noticed someone sitting in the dark on the couch. He hesitated at first, but then decided to go see who it was. As Andy moved closer, he had realized it was Sharon.

"Couldn't sleep?" he says as he sits down beside her.

"Not really. Should I ask why you are up sneaking around my parent's house in the middle of the night?" she says, as she moves closer to his side.

"Sneaking…. How dare you accuse me of snaking Captain Raydor.", Andy replies with a mischievous tone. "So tell me Captain Raydor, how long has it been since you fooled around on your parent's couch?"

"Lieutenant Flynn! I don't think that it would be appropriate for us to take part in such acts." She said trying to not to laugh.

As Andy brought her fingers up to his lips he said, "Captain Raydor don't pull the old rule book out on me now."

"Andy really we can't do this here. What is someone wakes up." She said as she mentally tried to tell herself this was a horrible idea. But before she could protest any further, she felt his lips on her neck.

Kissing his way up to her ear he whispers, "I just want a kiss and then I will go back to bed."

"Fine, just a kiss", she whispered as their lips touched.

Before she knew it, the kiss had turned into kisses, his lips on her neck, and her lips on his neck. Tugging at her waste, Andy says, "Come here". As she starts to lean over to him, he grabs her and pulls her towards him.

Straddling his lap, she runs her hands over his bare chest and down his arms. Then she leans into him, wrapping both hands around his neck kisses him with such desire that it takes both of the breath away. As she pulls back a little let them both get some air she feels his hand sliding down her side. He stops just at the bottom of her top, he watches her has his hand slides under her top and makes contact with her skin. Her eyes grow wide at first, but he could see a small smile on her lips. With their eyes locked, he slowly slides his hand up further under her shirt. As his fingers brush over breast, a tiny gasp escaped her mouth. He moved from one to the other giving each of them the same amount of attention, causing Sharon to let out a low moan.

As he placed a kiss on her collarbone, his hand left her breast and all she felt was a single finger sliding down her stomach. He stopped at the waistband of her pajamas giving her just enough time to realize what he was doing. Watching her every move he slid his hand down the front of her pants. The mix of shock and pleasure on her face made him smile from ear to ear. He let his hand glide over her hot center and he felt her hands tighten on his shoulders. She let out a sequence of moans as his finger slide over her wet folds and then inside her. He was teasing her and she knew it. Knowing she was close, he ran his thumb over her swollen clitoris until she final let everything go. He could feel her tighten around him and with one last short gasps she started to tremble. Andy pulled her against his chest and held her as the final wave of pleaser subsided.

After a few moments, she moved from his lap. Andy sat there staring at her a little unsure of what she was doing, until he saw the mischievous smile on her lips. She leaned over and kissed him and then she began to shimmy out of her panties and pajama bottoms. Andy looks around quickly as he says, "What are you doing?"

Smiling, Sharon doesn't say a word as she climbs back on to his lap and places a kiss on his lips. The more she kissed him the more she could feel his arousal grow beneath her. Unable to resist any longer she slid her hand over his member. Andy sucked in a breath as she slowly pulled at his pants. Before his mind could even processes he heard Sharon gasp as she guided him into her. She was moving slowly until Andy put his hands on her hips wanting her to quicken her pace. He pulled her close and held her tight as she pushed them to their release. He held her close not wanting this moment to end.

"I should probably get dressed and get back to bed before Maddie notices I'm gone", she whispered as she placed another kiss on his check.

"I guess so", Andy said and kissed her one last time.

Hand in hand, the two of them headed back to their rooms. What they hadn't realized was that they were so wrapped up in the moment they hadn't heard someone come down the stairs. Vivian wasn't able to sleep either and had gone down to the kitchen for a cup of tea. She had stood outside of the family room for a second before she realized what was going on. She smiled to herself on her way back up to her bed. Sharon had not told her that she was involved with Andy, but Vivian had suspected it by the way they interacted and the looks they were constantly giving each other. She had told Sharon for years to divorce that no good husband of hers, but for whatever reason she wouldn't do it. Sharon always tried to use their religion as the reason, but Vivian knew better than that.

Vivian could tell that Andy would move heaven and earth for Sharon if necessary. It made her happy to know that Sharon had someone to help her through all of this. Vivian had been worried how Sharon was going to handle everything, but knowing that Andy would be there to help put her mind at ease.

After breakfast the next morning, Andy and Rusty started packing the car up for their drive back up. Bob gave Andy and Rusty a firm handshake and thanked them for all of their help. Vivian hugged Rusty and said that she hoped they would have a longer visit with him over the holidays. As Vivian hugged Andy goodbye, she held on to him for just a second longer whispering to him, "Please take care of both by girls".

It took Andy a minute- to realize that Vivian saw right through him and Sharon and with a smile, all he said was "of course".

With Andy and Rusty waiting in the car, Sharon knew that she and Maddie needed to say their goodbyes. Hugging Maddie tighter than he ever had before Bob told Maddie, she was to be a good girl for her Aunt. As he said goodbye he placed a kiss on top of her head. As Sharon and Maddie switched places, she could see the tears running down Maddie's face. Maddie wrapped her arms around Vivian's waste and started sobbing uncontrollable. In between sobs, Maddie begged and pleaded with her grandparents to let her stay there with them. Hugging Maddie, Vivian told her that this is how it had to be. That they had to honor her mother's wishes and that she knew in her heart that Maddie belong with Sharon.

Vivian kissed Maddie on the cheek and slipped an envelope into her hands. She lifted Maddie's chin, so she would have to look up at her when she said, "You read this later after you get settled in at Aunt Sharon's".

Closing her eyes Vivian told Sharon to take Maddie, "She will not let go if you don't make her."

With tears, falling down her cheek Sharon pried Maddie's arms off Vivian and pulled the little girl in to a hug, before walking her to the car.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

On Monday morning, Sharon dropped Rusty off at school and headed to the office with Maddie. As the two of them walked into the squad room, Sharon immediately noticed Chief Taylor sitting in her office. Sharon stopped at Andy's desk, "Can she sit here with you while I deal with him."

Smiling at Maddie, Andy said, "Sure, I'll watch the kid."

"Maddie let me introduce you to the squad." Andy said while nodding to Sharon.

"Good Morning Chief." Sharon said when she entered her office. She could tell by the look on his face that he was not pleased.

"Captain, I'm glad you were able to make it into the office today. I see that you have a shadow with you." Chief Taylor said nodding towards Maddie.

"Chief, Maddie will only be here until Wednesday. I assure you that she will not get in the way. If you do not need anything else, I need to be briefed on our current case." She said while walking over to the door.

"I guess that's it for now Captain, but please keep your priorities in order. I need someone in charge of the squad that can keep things moving in a direction that benefit the city and the public. If I find that your new parental responsibilities are creating issues with your ability to lead this team we might need to…."

In a stern voice, Sharon interrupts Taylor in mid-sentence, "Don't worry Chief, I have everything under control, but thank you for your concern."

"Maddie, please have a seat in my office while I get up to speed on things out here. Why don't you read a book on your iPad or play one of those games you seem to like to so much." Sharon says as she walks Maddie towards her office door.

With Maddie tucked away in Sharon's office, she turns her attention back to her team. "Where are we at the with The ChiChi Crib No.5 shooting?"

After Sharon gave her orders to everyone, she noticed that Andy was taking his time rolling out with the rest of the squad. Trying to keep the professional appearance up Andy says, "Captain, I have something you need to see. "He grabs a stack of paperwork off his desk and walks towards her.

"What do you have for me Lt. Andy? "She says as he approaches her.

"Honestly, I don't have anything. We can talk as you pretend to look over these. What was the deal with Taylor?" Andy said a little concerned.

With a sigh she says, "He wanted to let me know that if I am no longer capable of doing my job he has no issue with replacing me. "

"I have never met such a heartless…." Andy started to say, but stops when he sees the expression on Sharon's face change. "What's wrong?"

She nodes her head towards Maddie and says, "Did she talk to you when she was out here?"

"No, she didn't." Andy says knowing that she is worried about the little girl.

"She hasn't said two words to me. If I ask her something she responds by shaking her head yes, no, or shrugging her shoulders."

"Give her a little time. She will come around. If she is anything like her Aunt she will be just fine." Andy said as he flashed her one of his smiles and walked away.

For the next few hours Sharon went over the many stacks of paperwork that she had on her desk. Occasionally she would ask Maddie if she needed anything, but Maddie would always shake her head no and go back to her iPad.

It was almost noon, when Sykes popped her head into the Captains office and asked if she would like to put an order in for lunch. Sharon didn't even realize it was lunchtime. "Thank you, Sykes. Give me a minute and I will be out with my order." Sharon says looking over to Maddie.

"Maddie, what would you like for lunch?" Sharon says hoping that the little girl will finally say something. But Maddie just shrugs. "Maddie, if you don't tell me what you want, you will have to eat what I order for you…..Even if you don't like it." But still the little girl doesn't say a word.

Sharon walks out and orders two whole grain prosciutto sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, and Dijon mustard on the side. Provenza makes a face and says, "Are you really going to make the kid eat that?"

"She wouldn't tell me what to get her, so she will eat what I eat." Sharon says putting her hands on her hips.

Provenza pulled a menu out of his desk and quickly browsed through it. "Here, order the kid a turkey taco sandwich. My grandkids love those things."

As Sanchez and Sykes came back with lunch, Tao found something on the videos he had been going through. "Captain, there was a black Ford Escape sitting on the south side of the street when the victim was shot. This could be our shooter or a witness. It's going to take a little while, but I should be able to pull the plate from this picture."

"Very good, Mike! Let me know when you have the plate." Sharon says grabbing their lunches, but before she can make her way back to her office Provenza tells Maddie to come out to the squad room to eat her lunch.

Reluctantly Maddie gets up from her chair and goes out to her Aunt. When Provenza sits back to down at his desk, Sharon mouths "Thank you" to him. With a slight smile Provenza nodes his head toward her.

Rusty appeared at Sharon's door after school like he does every other day. "I'm going to go get started on my homework. You want me to take Maddie with me?" Rusty says.

"Maddie, would you like to go with Rusty to the conference room?" Sharon says trying not to sound eager to get Maddie out of her office, but Maddie shakes her head NO and continues playing with her iPad. "Thank you Rusty, but it looks like Maddie will be staying here with me."

It was just about 5:30 when Tao was finally able to pull the plates from the black Ford Escape. "Captain, I got it, I got the plates." Tao says and quickly adds, "I'm running them now to get an address."

As the team heads out Sharon stops realizing she was leaving someone sitting in her office. Provenza turns to her and says, "Captain, don't worry about it. We can handle this."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Lieutenant Provenza, Thank you, but I have to be there for this." Sharon says trying to come up with a quick solution.

"I will meet the two of you downstairs." Sharon says as she turns towards her office.

"What did you do with Maddie?" Andy asks as Sharon gets into the car.

"I put her in with Rusty and asked Officer Lawrence to check on them." Sharon said leaned her head back on the headrest.

As the team met up outside of the residence of their possible suspect, Sanchez informed the team that this was the residence of one of the Surenos gang members that had been released from the Southern California prison about six months ago.

As Sanchez, Sykes, and Tao took the back of the house Sharon, Andy, and Provenza took the front. Andy kicks in the door, he, and Provenza storm in with Sharon following behind. As they clear each room, they hear movement upstairs. Dividing again, Sykes, Provenza, and Sharon go outside to make sure that their suspect doesn't try to flee the from an upstairs window. Andy, Tao, and Sanchez went to check the upstairs. With two rooms left to go, they knew that their suspect was in one of them. As they approached the last door, there was a sudden explosion.

Sharon, Sykes, and Provenza ran to the side of the house and saw three men jumping from the roof. Sykes holstered her gun and took off after the first one that hit the ground running. The second suspect hit the ground and from the sound of it broke his knee in the process. Provenza had him on his stomach and cuffed as quick as he could, which left third one for Sharon. The third man stumbled for a second and then took off running. Sharon couldn't get a good position on him, so she did the only thing she could. She holstered her gun and took off running. By the time Andy, Sanchez, and Tao reached the side of the house they all saw the Captain struggling on the ground with the suspect.

As they were running to help her, a gunshot went off and they all stopped dead in their tracks. From that point, it all seemed to happen in slow motion. Running towards her, Andy yelled "SHARON".

As he reached her side, she had pushed the suspect off her and was holding his gun. "He is dead", she said as Andy reached her. Knelling down beside her, Andy went to pull her into a hug. But before he could, she put her hand up stopping him. "We need to call this in." She said quickly. Then a sudden wave of panic went through her body. "Where is Amy!" she said trying to catch her breath.

As Provenza reached the two of them, he let her know that Sanchez and Tao set off to go help Sykes. Provenza knew that as long as he was there she wouldn't let Andy by touch her and so he turned to go call the shooting in.

"Please let me help you up." Andy said as he got to his feet.

Looking around to make sure no one would see them; she put her hand in his. When she was finally on her feet Andy didn't give her any option, he pulled her close to him and held her tight. "Don't you ever do that to me again." he said as he kissed her.

After the paramedics checked out Sharon and FDI had questioned all officers and suspects, the team took the suspect Sykes had chased down back to the station. The other suspect that Provenza had cuffed would have to go to the hospital before they could question him.

Once back at the station Sharon was on her way back to her office to get a change of clothes when she saw Rusty and Maddie on their way back from the break room. Both kids just stood there and stared at Sharon. She had hoped to get out of the blood stained clothes before they saw her, but it was too late. Rusty immediately ran to Sharon and hugged her, but Maddie turned and ran away from her.

Sharon hugged Rusty quickly and assured him that she was fine. The blood was the suspects and not hers, and then she set out to find Maddie. When Sharon found Maddie, she was in the conference room off of Sharon's office. Maddie was sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees, with her head resting on top of her knees. Sitting down beside the sobbing little girl, Sharon puts her hand on Maddie's head. "Maddie, I'm right here. Look at me Maddie, I'm fine." Sharon said trying to pull the little girl into a hug.

When Maddie yelled "NO!" Sharon stops right away. Moving away from Sharon Maddie says, "Don't touch me. Just leave me alone."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

While Sharon was dealing with Maddie, the rest of the squad found out that the man that had been shot in the struggle was Victor Schillaci, the former Surenos gang member they had been looking for. Since Schillaci was dead, his friend had no issues giving the team all of the information they needed to link Schillaci to the shooting of Robert Jones. It turns out that Schillaci was ordered to kill Jones by another Surenos gang member. The connection between the Jones and the other gang member was Jones had been seeing the gang member's former girlfriend.

After the team wrapped everything up, Andy went looking for Sharon. When he entered her office, he found Rusty sitting in his usual spot. "They are in there." Rusty said pointing to the conference room. When Andy entered, he saw Sharon sitting on the floor beside Maddie with her head leaning back on the wall. Leaning down towards Sharon he tells her she needs to go get changed. Looking down, Sharon realized she never made it to change her clothes. "Go change, I will get her and Rusty ready to go home. I'm driving the three of you and don't bother trying to argue with me about it." Andy said as he helped her up off the floor.

Maddie was so still Andy had thought she might have fallen asleep. "Kiddo it's time to go home." Andy said placing a hand on Maddie's arm. Maddie nodded her head, but didn't say a word. As the four of them walked towards Andy's car Sharon realized that the Rusty and Maddie had not really had anything for dinner. "Andy we should probably stop somewhere and get them something to eat." Sharon said weakly.

"Thank God! I'm starving." Rusty said nudging Maddie with his elbow, "What do you want to eat Maddie?"

Maddie just shrugged and said she wasn't hungry. "Fine I get Maddie's too." Rusty said with a smile. Rusty knew what it was like to miss a parent and he was trying to help lighten the situation, but Maddie was a tough nut to crack. He smirked to himself for a moment thinking back to when he first came to stay with Sharon. Rusty couldn't help but think that something about Maddie reminded him of Sharon.

When they got back to Sharon's apartment Rusty realized that Maddie had fallen asleep on the way home. "Kids probably exhausted. I can carry her up for you." Andy said getting out of the car.

When Maddie wrapped her arms around Andy's neck, he looked down at her and smiled. He looked over to Sharon and said, "My daughter use to do the same thing when she was little."

Putting Maddie in Sharon's bed as he was instructed, Andy placed a kiss on the little girls head. "I never realized how much she looked like you until now." Andy said as he watched the little girl sleep.

Sharon sat down on the side of the bed and put her head in her hands. "Andy I need to talk to you about Maddie." Sharon said in depressing tone.

"Babe it's been a rough day. I know you're worried about her, but she just needs time to adjust. You trying to prove yourself tonight didn't really help matters." Andy said lifting Sharon chin. Looking deep into her eyes he says, "Please don't ever do anything like that again. We are your team; you have nothing to prove to any of us. As for proving yourself to Taylor, I'm pretty sure he knows that you're the only one who can pull off the changes he wants done. You know the rules better than anyone I know. Why don't you take a shower? It will make you feel better and I can hang around until you're done."

Kissing him softly Sharon said, "Your right. I think a shower would help."

Sharon woke up the next morning to find Maddie curled up in her arms. Smiling at the little girl, Sharon tried to move without waking her, but wasn't successful. When Maddie opened her eyes and realized where she was she turned from Sharon and as if she were embarrassed and said, "I'm sorry, I move a lot in my sleep."

Happy that Maddie finally spoke, Sharon smiled at the child and said, "I tend to move a lot in my sleep too, so don't worry about it." She wanted to say so many things to Maddie, but she knew that if she made a big deal about it, Maddie would only push her away even more.

Sharon had left Maddie with Flynn and Tao while she attended a few meeting with Pope and Taylor. When Sharon came back, Maddie was engrossed in full-blown Tao moment. Taylor had Tao sifting through a hard drive for Robbery/Homicide and he was explaining everything he was doing to Maddie and to everyone surprise the kid actually seemed to enjoy it.

As Sharon, Andy, and Provenza all watched in amazement Provenza says, "The kid actually looks like she knows what he is talking about."

Sharon laughs a little saying, "She probably does. Her father worked on computers. He was a consultant for Hewlett-Packard once upon a time. I think he even did some freelance work for Apple for a while when Maddie was first born."

The rest of the day was uneventful for the team and since they had not been called out on a new case Sharon told the team to head home a little early. It wasn't often that the they didn't have back-to-back cases, so the team took full advantage of the lite caseload and headed home to be with their families.

"Aunt Sharon, can Andy come over for dinner tonight?" Maddie watched Andy as he was finishing up for the day.

"Why don't you go ask him?" Sharon said with a smile. Sharon couldn't notice that Maddie seemed a little happier after having spent the afternoon with Lt. Tao. If it were therapeutic for Maddie, maybe she would talk to Lt. Tao about letting Maddie sit with him occasionally.

"Andy" Maddie said in such a sweet tone he couldn't help put to smile at her.

"What's up Kiddo?" Andy said looking toward Sharon, who was standing at her office door watching the two of them.

"Would you like to have dinner with us tonight?" Maddie asked.

Andy thought for a second before he responded, "I would love to, but only if you help me cook dinner for your Aunt Sharon."

With a grin on her face Maddie says, "Sure, I'm a really good cook."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Sharon had been sitting at the dining room table struggling to focus on the paperwork sitting before her. She couldn't help but watch Andy, Rusty, and Maddie in the kitchen cooking dinner. Andy had insisted on cooking Chicken Lo Mein. Sharon was a little leery, but Rusty had insisted it was the best he had ever tasted.

Sharon couldn't help but to smile at how well Andy and Rusty worked kitchen. Watching the two of them, you would have thought that this had been their nightly routine for years. Sharon had never noticed how funny Andy was. He was the center of attention and he was loving every minute of it. Telling jokes, teasing Rusty about having a girlfriend, but it was his impersonation of Provenza that had Maddie laughing so hard. Maddie seemed to have taken to Andy right of the bat. It was almost bitter sweet for Sharon to watch. She was happy that the two of them hit it off, but she couldn't help but feel a little jealous at the same time.

Sitting down to have dinner together as a family Sharon and Andy both noticed how content Rusty had seemed. Both of them were pretty sure this was the closest thing Rusty had ever had to a family dinner. They both watched in amazement as Rusty talked with Maddie about school.

"Maddie if you want we can get to school a few minutes early and I can help you find all of your classes. The lockers can be a little tricky too, but I can show you the trick I use on mine. If we have lunch at the same time, you can sit with me if you want. Once you make it through the first day it's not that bad." Rusty said as he shoveled another mouthful of Lo Mein in his mouth.

Maddie was nervous about what 6th grade at a private school would be like. She had always gone to a public school and her parents were not even active Catholics. They typically only went to Mass on holidays. Nervously she looked over at Sharon and said, "Aunt Sharon would it be ok if we went to school a little early tomorrow?"

Delighted that the two of them were finally connecting Sharon said, "Of course we can Maddie."

"Maddie you mind helping me clean up so Sharon and Andy can talk about their case?" Rusty said trying to give Sharon and Andy a little time alone.

Maddie looked back and forth between Sharon and Andy before agreeing to help Rusty.

"Tell you what." Andy said as he got up from the table, "if you two clean up, I will treat everyone to ice cream after wards. Does that sound like a deal?"

Sharon and Andy both laughed as both of the kids yelled "YES!" at the same time.

As Andy pulled up in front of Sharon's apartment Rusty and Maddie thanked him for their ice cream and headed off inside.

"I will be up in a moment." Sharon said as the Rusty and Maddie got out of the car.

"She is doing a lot better today, don't you think?" Andy says as they watch the kids walking inside.

"She really is. She seems to be rather fond of you." Sharon said trying to act like it didn't bother her.

"Why Captain Raydor are you jealous?" Andy chuckled.

"I am not!" Sharon said pouting a little.

"You know you are irresistible when you pout." Andy said leaning over to kiss her.

"I will keep that in mind the next time you and that partner of yours are giving me a hard time." Sharon said kissing him back.

"I guess I should probably let you go shouldn't I?" Andy said breaking the kiss so they could both get some air.

"Probably so." Sharon said with a weak smile. "Thank you again for dinner and ice cream."

"Any time", Andy says kissing her cheek.

On her way back up to the apartment, Sharon was making a mental checklist of everything she needed to have ready for Maddie's first day of school.

As she walked into the living room, Sharon found Maddie going over her school list again. "Would you feel better if we got your backpack ready now, so we can make sure you have everything?" Sharon said walking towards the young girl.

"Sure", Maddie said with more enthusiasm than Sharon had expected.

"I can help you pack our lunches now, if you want me to." Maddie said nervously.

"That would be great." Sharon said happily. "Maddie do you think I could put you in charge of helping me prepare our lunches every night?" Sharon said as they finished up.

Smiling Maddie said, "I think I can do that Aunt Sharon."

"We should probably get you showered and off to bed." Sharon said looking at her watch.

Sharon was just getting ready to change for bed when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. "Come in." She said without looking up.

"Would it be ok if I slept in here tonight?" Maddie asked looking down at the floor.

"Of course you can. Go ahead and get settled in while I change." Sharon said heading towards the bathroom.

When she came back a few minutes later, Maddie was fast asleep. Sharon kissed Maddie on the forehead as she said "Goodnight sweetheart."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The next morning Sharon parked outside of St. Joseph's and was getting ready to walk in with Rusty in Maddie, when Maddie said, "It's ok Aunt Sharon, you don't have to come in. Rusty will help me find my class."

"If that is what you want, it's fine with me." Sharon said trying not to sound upset. "Have good day you two." She said as Rusty and Maddie were getting out of the car.

Getting her things out of the backseat, Sharon heard a car door close. She instinctively looked around to find Andy walking towards her. "Good Morning Captain." He said with a boyish grin.

"Good Morning Lieutenant Flynn." She said forcing a smile.

"Why the said face?" Andy said arching an eyebrow.

"It's nothing….. It's silly of me." Sharon said trying not to make eye contact with him.

"Silly…. That doesn't sound like you." He said, not sure if he should let it go or not

"Maddie wanted Rusty to walk her into school this morning." She said looking up at him. "See, I told you it was silly."

"Ohhh I see." Andy said slowly. "Mamma bear's feelings are a little hurt because her new cub wanted to venture off on her own."

"Mamma bear…. Is that the best you could come up with?" Sharon said with a laugh.

"She's just nervous and she probably doesn't want the other kids to think that she has to have you walk her to her class. That wouldn't be cool." Andy said as they walked towards the elevator.

As they got inside the elevator Sharon said "You're right."

"I'm sorry Captain; I don't think I heard you right. Could you please repeat that?" Andy said as he pushed the emergency stop button.

"Andy what are you doing?" Sharon said.

"I know what will make you feel better Captain." Andy said closing the distance between them. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face before running his thumb down her cheek.

The simple touch of his skin caused her to shudder ever so slightly. As she felt the heat from his body, she closed her eyes and leaned in to him. They stood there in the elevator kissing for a few minutes before Andy's phone went off. Not wanting to move away from her, he slid his hand into his pocket and pulled his phone out. "Damn him." He said shaking his head.

"What do you want?" Andy said when he answered his phone. "Yeah, Yeah, ok, I'm on my way up no. No, I saw her in the elevator. She should be up in a second."

"I take it Lieutenant Provenza is looking for us?" Sharon said stepping away from him and straightening out her suit.

"Apparently Agent Howard is in need of our assistance." Andy said wondering what exactly Agent Howard needed.

While Captain Raydor was dealing with the needs of the FBI, Maddie was dealing with her own issues. When Sister Mary Elizabeth introduced Maddie to the class, she asked Maddie to tell the class a little bit about herself. Slowly walking to the front of the class Maddie's palms started getting sweaty and her stomach was in knots. Maddie stood in front of the class for a moment with everyone staring at her. She tried to speak, but she didn't know what to say. Suddenly all of the color left Maddie's face and she ran out of the room into the hallway. Just as the door shut behind her all of the students heard her throwing up.

Sister Mary Elizabeth walked Maddie to the infirmary just to be sure there were no more accidents in the halls. "Maddie what is your Aunt's phone number?" Sister Mary Elizabeth said as Maddie sat down on the bench.

"Please Sister don't call my Aunt. She is very busy. I didn't eat anything for breakfast and I was really nervous. I promise it won't happen again." Maddie said with a pleading tone.

"If I don't call your Aunt, you must promise me that you will eat breakfast tomorrow." Sister Mary Elizabeth said with a smile.

A few hours later, as Maddie was walking to lunch, she heard Rusty calling her name. Relieved to finally see a familiar face she rushed over to him. "Hey Maddie I have a quick chess club meeting. Find a table and I will be back in like 15 minutes." Rusty said quickly as he was putting books in his locker.

While Maddie was waiting for Rusty a two older boys sat down at her table. They grabbed Maddie's lunch off the table and said, "So you're Rusty's new foster sister isn't that just special. Looks like that cop has a think for unwanted kids. She might be able to flash her badge and feed people a line of bullshit to get the two of you in here, but we all know that the two of you are nothing but trash. You tell your big bother the next time he wants to give one of us a black eye that maybe we will have our little sisters have a chat with you." They tossed her lunch all over the table and walked away.

Picking up her lunch, Maddie could feel the tears rolling down her face. She didn't want Rusty to find out what happened and she wasn't going to let any of the other students see her cry, so she quickly grabbed her things and ran to the restroom. She stood in the last stall trying to calm herself down before her next class started.

At the end of the day when Maddie saw Sharon's car sitting outside of the school waiting for her and Rusty she wanted nothing more but to jump in the back seat and hide her face. Entering the back seat Maddie thought for a moment that if she told her Aunt how horrible it was there, that maybe she would let her go back on to Salt Lake City. However, when she saw how happy her Sharon was to see her she knew that she couldn't do it. Sharon's smile reminded Maddie a little of her mother's smile. Maddie hadn't seen her mother smile like Sharon was in a long time. The thought of her mother made her want to cry, but she knew she could let them see her cry. She put a fake smile on and told Sharon that her first day was actually pretty good. Rusty got in the car just in time to shift Sharon's attention. Putting her headphones on Maddie leaned back and closed her eyes.

At dinner that night, Rusty laughed when Maddie asked if they would have to go to the station every day after school. "Good luck with that argument Maddie. I have been trying to get Sharon to let me come straight home for months now." Rusty said acting like Sharon couldn't hear him.

"Before I came here, I would stay home by myself after school every day. Why can't I do that now Aunt Sharon?" Maddie said.

"Madison it is my responsibility to make sure that you and Rusty are safe and I can't do that if I don't know where you are and what you are doing. Having the two of you at the station after school insures me of your safety and allows me to get my work done. This is not up for debate!" Sharon said as she poured herself another glass of wine.

"My name is Maddie NOT Madison." Maddie said with tears running down her face. As she pushed her chair back from the table she looked directly at Sharon and said, "Just because my mom left me home alone after school doesn't mean that she didn't love me. You didn't know her. You couldn't have, you were too busy with your work to every come home and see her."

Rusty just looked at Maddie with his mouth open. Somewhere he had missed something. Somehow calling her Madison had upset her and the fact that Sharon never said anything about her mom had him even more confused. When he looked over at Sharon he wasn't sure if he should clear the dishes and go to his room or if she should try to comfort her. Sharon didn't say anything, she didn't even look up again after Maddie got up from the table, she just sat there in silence.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Sharon stood at the kitchen counter watching Maddie out on the balcony. Taking one last drink of her wine, she slowly walked over to the doors. Slipping outside onto the balcony, Sharon says, "Is it ok if I sit out here for a bit?"

"I guess." Maddie said with a shrug.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment before Sharon started to speak. "I was not insinuating that your mother didn't love you Maddie, she loved you more than life itself. I remember how excited she was when she found out she was going to have a daughter." taking Maddie's hand Sharon continued, "I loved your mother very much. She was my little sister and there is not anything I would not have done for her. I know that my work requires a great deal of my time, please give me a chance to work everything. Can you do that Maddie; can you give me a little time to make work everything out?"

Maddie nodded her head yes, but didn't speak. She wanted tell Sharon how sorry she was for yelling at her, but she didn't want to cry in front of Sharon. She knew that she had reacted this way because of the day she had at school. She knew it was unfair to Sharon, but she also knew that if she told Sharon about her day at school that she would make a big deal out of it. All Maddie wanted to do was forget about it. Squeezing Sharon's hand Maddie says, "I'm going to go get my shower now and get ready for bed."

Before Sharon let go of the young girls hand she said had one last thing to address, "I'm, I'm sorry I called you Madison. I use to address my children by their given names when I wanted to get their attention. It's what mom's do sometimes. I did it without thinking and I apologize. I know that your mother is the only person who has ever called you that."

"It's not a big deal." Maddie said as she released Sharon's hand and headed off to get ready for bed.

Sharon had been sitting out on the balcony enjoying the night air when Rusty appeared at the door with her phone. "I'm sorry, it was ringing, and when I saw it was Agent Howard I figured it was important." Rusty said handing her the phone.

"Thank you, Rusty." Sharon said she took the phone.

Smiling up at Rusty Sharon says, "Good evening Agent Howard, what can I do for you?"

"Captain Raydor I hope I'm not interrupting your evening." Agent Howards says before he jumps right into business.

"I know that we agreed to give the LAPD some time to think over our proposition, but I have just received word that the Cartel has moved the meeting to this Saturday. If we are going to do this, we have to act on it fast." Agent Howard said hoping that Sharon would agree to the terms they had discussed earlier that day.

"Agent Howard the LAPD is always happy to assist our friends in the FBI, but I have to be honest. I am not entirely comfortable with sending Lieutenant Flynn into such a dangerous situation. I have looked over all of the reports and every time you send someone in under cover the agent sends up dead or missing." Sharon said hoping that he could not hear the worry in her voice.

"You're right Captain, every time we send a man in something goes wrong. I think with both of our teams working together on this we will have an advantage that we haven't had before. In addition, our tech people have provided some new technology that will be very beneficial to us. We will be able to track Flynn no matter where he goes no matter what. Flynn is smart and can talk his way out of any situation, we need that. Captain, we both know that Flynn is very good at what he does and if I didn't think he could do it I wouldn't have come to you." Agent Howard says as he swats Brenda's hands away from the phone.

"Well Agent Howard, Chief Taylor has already given the green light and Lieutenant Flynn doesn't seem to have an issue with it, so I guess the answer is yes." Sharon says hoping that Agent Howard was right.

"I will meet you at your office first thing tomorrow morning to go over the details and thank you Captain." Agent Howard said before hanging up.

Knowing that Andy was waiting for her to give them the go ahead, Sharon decided to send him a quick text saying, it's a go. I swear to God Andy Flynn you had better not make me regret this.

The next morning Sharon dropped Rusty and Maddie off at school and headed to the office hoping to have a few minutes to talk with Andy in private before the FBI team arrived. As she walked through the doors to the squad room she was relieved when she didn't see any sign that the FBI.

Sykes was the first to see the Captain enter the room and immediately greeted her, "Good Morning, Captain."

"Good Morning, Detective Sykes. Could I have everyone's attention for a moment? The FBI has requested the assistance of the LAPD on an undercover assignment. The Cartel is currently looking to find a new gun supplier and after having reviewed the profiles of their previous suppliers, Agent Howard feels that Lieutenant Flynn would be a good fit for this new supplier. Agent Howard will be here shortly to go over the details with us. In the meantime, Lieutenant Flynn may I have a word with you in my office?" Sharon said.

Andy followed Sharon into her office and shut the door behind him. "Are you sure you are ok with this?" Andy said walking towards her.

Looking out the window, she shook her head no, "No, I'm not. I don't like this at all, but I don't really have a choice, now do I."

"Everything is going to be fine. Trust me ok?" Andy said walking over to her.

"This has nothing to do with trust." Sharon said.

Andy could hear the sadness in her voice. He pulled her against his chest and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I won't do it. Agent Howard can find someone else."

He could feel her smile against his chest as she said, "We both know there is no way to back out of this now."

As their eyes meet, Andy says, "I would do anything to make you happy, to protect you, to show you how much I…."

Before he could finish she kissed him. Something about this kiss was so much different than any other they had shared. The kiss was soft and slow at first, but as she deepened, the kiss it felt like pure passion over took both of them. It was almost as if they were kissing each other for the last time. He pulled her as close as he could and she held him just as tightly to her as neither one wanted this moment to end.

They weren't sure how long the phone on her desk had been ringing before she finally pulled away from him. She quickly moved to answer it, "Captain Raydor. Yes, thank you. Please send them up."

She turned back to Andy, "They are here. You know once you leave this building today, we cannot have any contact until after you have met with the Cartel."

"I know and I hate it." Andy said kissing her one last time before he leaving her office.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

As Agent Howard finished briefing the team on the how the assignment would unfold, he handed Andy a bag that contained a change of clothes, a wallet, cell phone and a set of keys. "Well Mr. Johnny Tacchini there is a cab waiting downstairs to take you to your new house. There you will find your car, clothes and anything else you might need. You will also find a folder in the kitchen with every kind of gun you have in your warehouse. Make sure that you are familiar with all of them. If you need to get a hold of me, you can reach me by calling the Ex-wife in your contacts. It will dial a burn phone, which will then forward on to me. Good luck Lieutenant Flynn."

After shaking Agent Howards hand Andy nods to the rest of the team and goes to change. With all of his personal belonging locked away, he looks around one last time before he heads downstairs to the cab. The team stands in silence for a brief moment after Andy leaves, until Sharon says, "You all know what needs to be done, Provenza and Tao you have first watch. Please check in with me once you are in place. Sanchez and Sykes the three of us will talk before we relive Agent Howard, Provenza, and Tao in the morning. Let's show the FBI why you were all handpicked for this department."

"Um…Captain Raydor, can I have a word with you before I head out?" Provenza says.

"Of course Lieutenant," Sharon says as she heads to her office.

"Andy might have mentioned that you would need some help with Rusty and Maddie with everything going on…..If you want, Liz said she would be happy to help with the kids while you are on duty.", Provenza says apprehensively.

"Oh Lieutenant, that is very kind of Liz. I don't know what to say. " Sharon says a little taken back.

"Liz just loves Rusty and I'm sure she will get along great with Maddie too." Provenza says dreading what was going to come next.

"Well, I would really only need for her to watch Maddie. Rusty will be staying over with a friend. Would she mind just watching Maddie?" Sharon said as she noticed the change in Provencal's demeanor.

"That will be just fine Captain. I'm sure Liz will spoil her just as she does our granddaughters. Captain, there is one last thing. This morning Flynn asked me to make sure you got this envelope after he left. And Sharon, we will not let anything happen to him. He will be back here being a pain in the ass before we know it." Provenza says offering her a reassuring smile, "I gave Liz your phone number. I'm sure she will call you tonight."

Sharon was so busy studying the envelope he had placed in her hands; she didn't even realize he had turned to walk to the door, "Thank you, Louie." She said with in a shaky voice.

Fearful of what she will find in the envelope, she hesitantly opens it to find a key, a note, and a cell phone. As she holds the cell phone in her hand, she immediately recognizes it to be Andy's. Holding the phone tightly in one hand, she opens the letter. With trembling hands, she tries to hold the note stead as she reads it.

Sharon,

Along with this letter, you will find a key to my place and my cell phone. We both know that the Cartel will either jump on this opportunity or end it quickly. In the event that things don't play out in my favor, I didn't want my cell phone getting into the wrong hands. You will need to have Mike whip it for you, so no one can access any of our old text. The key is for you to get Maddie's things for when you move into the new house. On the kitchen counter, you will find a letter to each of my children. I know this is a lot of me to ask, but would you see to it that they get them. I don't know that Louie will be able to do it alone. No matter what happens, I want you to know I love you more than anything.

With Love,

Andy


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

That evening Sharon knew she needed to keep as busy as possible and what better way to do so than packing. They only had about a week before they were to move and things had been so crazy she had not pack a single box. After she checked in with Agent Howard and Provenza, Sharon started taking everything off the living room walls. After a little while, she realized that she had not gotten anything for Rusty and Maddie for dinner.

"Tell you what, why don't you two order whatever you want for dinner." Sharon said as she dusted each painting off before she neatly wrapped it.

"What do you want us to order for you?" Rusty asked a little shocked that Sharon was allowing them order anything they wanted. She tried to keep their meals as healthy as possible most nights.

"I'm not really hungry." She said trying to act like nothing was wrong. The trust was she was so worried about Andy that she wasn't even sure she could keep anything down.

Rusty turned towards Maddie and whispered, "Did you do something to upset her?"

"Seriously? I was at school all day with you, remember? Are you sure YOU didn't do something to upset her?" Maddie hissed.

"Maybe it's just the fact that we have to move that has her upset." Rusty said with a shrug.

"OH that's my fault too, right?" Maddie said with a hurt look on her face. She never really thought of all the sacrifices that Sharon had to make for her.

"Hey I didn't mean it like that. Women get all sentimental about stuff like this." Rusty said trying to make Maddie see that he really didn't mean it the way it came out.

By the time bedtime rolled around the three of them had everything in the living room wrapped, packed, and labeled just as Sharon had instructed.

Before settling into bed, Sharon sent one final message to Agent Howard saying, "Is everything going as planed?"

Agent Howard replies, "Yes, our informant took Flynn to meet the Cartels middle man. He seemed pretty impressed with the amount of firepower Flynn had and said he should expect a call sometime tomorrow."

The next morning Sharon was so anxious to relief Agent Howard that she was up before sunrise. She knew if she kept tossing and turning that she would end up waking Maddie up and a cranky 12 year old was the last thing she needed. Although, she had to admit that it was nice waking up to Maddie cuddling to her. Sometimes she would lay there and watch Maddie sleep, just like she use to do with her other children. She thought back to when Maddie was a baby. It seemed like she was flying back to Salt Lake City once a month. At first, her sister enjoyed the help. Maddie wasn't the happiest baby in the world. There were nights that she would cry all night long. It had gotten so bad that Emily finally took Maddie to the doctor, but they couldn't find anything wrong with her. Sharon seemed to have the special touch with Maddie. The baby always seemed to be content when Sharon was with her. Sometime when Emily was extremely sleep deprived, she would call Sharon and have her sing to Maddie. Within minutes, Maddie would be out and Emily would finally be able to get some rest. Sharon knew that is what created the issue between her and Emily. The bond that Sharon and Maddie shared was evident and as time passed, Emily had a hard time dealing with it.

Trying to shake away the thought of her sister, Sharon showered and got ready for her shift. She had agreed to let Rusty and Maddie sleep in, but they were to call Liz once they were up. She made it very clear that this was a onetime deal and that Rusty was not to leave for his friend's house until Liz had come for Maddie.

After a quick briefing with Sanchez and Sikes Sharon made her way to the house the FBI was working out of. When she arrived Buzz was already there waiting for her. He had suggested that he be there during her shifts to help with all the technical devices.

After Agent Howards ran through everything with her and Buzz, he asked Sharon if they could speak privately. Agent Howard noticed immediately that she was as white as a ghost. "He is fine Captain. It's more on a personal note," he said trying to put her mind at ease.

Once they were alone upstairs, she could tell that he that situation had him a little flustered. She couldn't help but smile at the site of him pacing. "Agent Howard why don't you just tell me what's on your mind, rather than wearing a hole in the floor."

"You know you can call me Fritz, if you would like." He said trying to lighten the tension.

"Ok, Fritz. What is this all about?" She said arching an eyebrow.

"Sharon, is it ok if I call you that?" He said looking over at her.

As she nodded, he continued. "Like I was saying Sharon, I think we have always worked well together and I want to continue to have a good working relationship. I can't tell you how important this case is to the FBI and I need to know what I'm up against when we move in on the Cartel. I can't take any changes of anything going wrong."

Sharon looked at Fritz completely confused. He had said on a personal note, but he was talking about this case. Then it suddenly hit her what the personal question was….

"I need to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me about it. Are you involved with Lieutenant Flynn?" he said studying her reaction.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Keeping her facial expression neutral and her tone emotion less, Sharon says, "I don't see that my personal life is any of your business Agent Howard."

"Listen, I'm not trying to invade your personal life Sharon. What I need to know is if we enter into a rough situation, are you going to be able to keep a level head?" Fritz says shaking his head.

"Have I ever given you any reason to doubt my abilities as a Captain?" Sharon said slightly irritated.

Knowing the conversation was going nowhere Fritz replies, "No, Captain Raydor you have not."

"Then I think I should check in with Buzz." she said as she turned towards the door, but before she could go any further she felt Fritz's hand on her arm.

"I know what it's like to watch someone you love put themselves in harm's way. I watched Brenda do it repeatedly and it never gets any easier. "Before releasing her arm he adds, "Your secret is safe with me Sharon."

With a sigh of relief she says, "Thank you, Fritz."

As Sharon and Fritz entered the dining area Buzz motioned for them, "Flynn just let with someone."

"Is the audio on the wire in his car picking up?" Sharon asked viewing the various monitors they had setup.

"Yeah, when they got in Flynn said they could have met at the warehouse. A guy with a deep voice said it was better they go in one vehicle." Buzz replied looking up at Sharon.

Sharon grabbed her radio, "Look a live people. Flynn had an unexpected visitor. They are in route to the warehouse." When she heard a strange voice, she instructed the team to standby.

"Johnny the only way that Mr. Lazcano is going to meet at an unknown warehouse is if I do a sweep of it first, understood?" Sharon and Fritz looked at each other and both know that this voice must be the Cartel's middleman.

"Hey, hey no problem, I was expecting a call, but a face to face consult works too." Flynn said nonchalantly.

Knowing that there was a camera in the front of the car, Flynn parked inside the warehouse so they would be in front of the car the entire time.

"Freeze that frame and send me the photo," Fritz said once the Cartel's middleman was in plain sight.

Fritz called Agent Fornell immediately, "I need you to have the photo I just sent you ran through for facial recognition. I need to know who we are dealing with here."

Sharon drew Fritz's attention back to the monitor for the front of the car. Thankfully, they had wires all over the warehouse, so they could hear what was going on. The three of them waited to see whom the middleman was calling. "Yeah, boss the warehouse looks good and I saw all of the weapons first hand. Should be everything we need to do the job."

After hanging up with his boss, the middleman turned to Flynn "Well Johnny looks like today is your lucky day. Mr. Lazcano is due in town tomorrow. I will call you 30 minutes before we are ready to meet. You will have 30 minutes to meet us at the warehouse, once the 30 minutes passes so does your chance to close this deal."

Sharon was relieved when the rest of the day passed uneventfully. They had placed a few hidden cameras and wires in the house with Flynn, which seemed to make this a little easier on her. She might not have been able to talk to him, but being able to see him made it bearable. The lack of activity also gave her a chance to chat with Buzz. Out of everyone in her division, Buzz was the only one that she didn't really have a connection with. She decided to take this opportunity to get to know him a little better and to her amazement, the two of them had a lot in common.

When it came time to change shifts that night Sharon had decided to stay a little longer and work through some final details for the following morning. She wanted to make sure that they had thought of every possible situation. Checking her watch one last night she realized it was nearly 1:00 am, she glanced over at the monitor with Flynn sleeping on the couch when a loud bang starteled her.

Everyone quickly looked around at the other monitors and saw that the Cartel's middleman, who they now knew as Nicolas Sullivan, was banging on Flynn's front door. Sharon quickly grabbed her radio to alert the team of the issue and to advice everyone to standby.

"What the hell is your problem?" Flynn said not fully awake.

"Change of plans, Mr. Lazcano wants to meet with you now." Nicolas said pushing past Flynn.

"At this time of night? I thought we were meeting tomorrow." Flynn said a little worried.

"Give me 10 minutes to get ready. I need to change and put my contacts in." Flynn said knowing that the team wouldn't have time to get into place, so he tried to stall.

"NO, there is no time for that. You go as you are. " Nicholas Sullivan said turning to Flynn.

"Hold on, hold on, at least give me a moment to find my glasses and keys then." Flynn said heading towards the kitchen. He fumbled around the counter in the dark kitchen looking for his glasses waiting until Nicolas wasn't paying attention and he quickly clicked on the contacts on his cell phone. He clicked on the Ex-wife in the contacts and turns the volume to the phone all the way down before he says, "Got them, let's go."

Within seconds Fritz's cell phone was ringing. He clicked on the button to answer the phone and muted it right away. Looking at Sharon, he nodded in the direction of the front door. Before exiting, she turns to Buzz, "I can get the feed for the warehouse on this laptop just like on those monitors, correct?"

Buzz nodded his head yes letting her know that she was correct.

"Keep your radio on. You are my eyes and my ears in that warehouse right now." Sharon says as she grabs the laptop and runs out door behind Fritz.

While Sharon and Fritz were on their way to the warehouse, Provenza had called Sanchez and Sykes to get them into place. Once all teams were set, all they could do is wait for Sharon to give the word for them to move in.

When Flynn got into the car with Nicolas and his men, he had heard the tail end of the passenger's phone conversation. The passenger referred to the caller as Zarek. Flynn had heard that name before, but where would he have heard it? Suddenly it hit him and he knew things were going to get bad quick. He knew he had to think fast. He needed to get a message to Sharon and Fritz, but how could he do it without compromising his position.

Looking over at Nicolas Flynn says, "I'm kind of glad that we are closing the deal tonight. I have Skybox tickets for me and my grandson tomorrow and I was a little worried I wouldn't get to take him. The last time we had car trouble and ended up missing most of the game."

"Aww isn't that nice." Nicolas said looking towards Flynn.

When she heard Flynn's voice on the phone, she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She closed her eye and took a deep breath. No matter what her feelings were for Flynn, right now she was Captain Raydor and she needed to stay focused.

Fritz looked at Sharon a little confused, "He doesn't have a grandson. What is he talking about?"

"He is trying to tell us something, but what." She said repeating his words over and over in her head, "He said Skybox tickets didn't he." She said dialing Provenza's number.

"Lieutenant Provenza, what do Skybox tickets mean to you?" Sharon said in a hurry.

"Captain, I don't think right now is the time for us to be chatting about skybox tickets." Provenza said rudely.

"No, No, Flynn said he had skybox tickets for him and his grandson tomorrow. He said that last time he had them; he had car trouble and missed most of the game. I remember him talking about an incident with the two of you when you had skybox tickets." She said knowing that they were running out of time.

"Well there was a dead body in my grange when we went to leave for the game and when we got back to my place the body was gone. " Provenza said still not seeing the connections.

"That's it, just a missing dead body?" Sharon said putting her hand up to head.

"Well Taylor ended up finding the dead body. When Flynn and I found out we stormed on to the crime scene and said that Chief Johnson told us to take over the investigation." Provenza still was not able to see what the missing dead body from a few years back could have to do with what was going on right now.

Sharon repeated the words slowly again, "Chief Johnson told us to take over the investigation." then it hit her what Flynn was saying, "Oh my god Louie, that's it. Notify Tao, Sanchez, Sykes, and Buzz to move to channel 3 on their radios. The LAPD is taking over. There is to be no communication with anyone from the FBI, other than Agent Howard."

"What the hell are you doing Sharon?" Fritz said.

"Someone in the FBI has leaked information to the Cartel." She said covering her mouth with her hand.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Looking around quickly Sharon says, "Buzz can you pick the GPS up on Flynn's phone?"

"Yes, it looks like they are about 6 minutes out." Buzz answers quickly.

"We are going to with plan B then." She said turning towards Fritz.

"There is a plan B?" Fritz said raising eyebrow.

"There is now. You figure out how to get the FBI out of here. You are the only one I trust. Sanchez and Sykes go in through the back and take position on the upper level. Provenza and Tao, go to the loading dock around the back. Agent Howard and I will take the south side door. We do not advance until Buzz has a clear view of Flynn. " Sharon said putting the radio down.

The team had gotten into place just seconds before the SUV pulled up with Flynn in it. When a strange man jumped out of the front seat and unlocked the doors Sharon looked over at Fritz, knowing that was not a good sign.

"It doesn't mean anything," Fritz said trying to reassure her that Flynn was fine.

Sharon started to address the team when she realized her bluetooth was still muted. She quickly unmuted it and spoke, "Buzz, where is he?"

"Flynn is about 20 feet from your door. You and Agent Howard will have to be careful not to hit Flynn with any cross fire. He is out of the line of fire for everyone else. They are loading the guns in the SUV so I can't really hear what's going on." Buzz said nervously.

"Ok everyone, on my count we go in on 3. Good luck." Sharon said nodding to Fritz, "One, two, three."

"LAPD put your guns down." Provenza and Tao yelled storming through the back.

When Sanchez saw the two men that were loading the SUV raise their weapons, he yelled "TAKE COVER."

Provenza instinctively pushed Tao over to the side behind some empty crates and Fritz used his body to shield Sharon at the front of the SUV, while Sanchez and Sykes opened fire on the two men.

Once the gunfire stopped Sharon and Frit moved to the back of the SUV to find Nicolas holding Flynn at gunpoint. Nicolas kept moving while using Flynn to shield his body from any possible shot. Holstering her gun Sharon moved forward putting herself between Nicolas and the rest of the team.

Using the calm motherly voice the team often heard her use with Rusty and Maddie she says, "This doesn't have to end this way Nicolas. You and I can work this out. My team will stand down if you release this man."

"You mean this COP." He yelled at her, "You think I'm that stupid. As soon as your friend, what's his name, Lt. Flynn, steps away from me I'm dead. The joke is on all of you, I'm a dead man no matter what."

"That's not true, no one will move without me telling them to. Nicolas trust me, I can get you out of this. We can put you in under witness protection. I assure you that nothing will happen to you." Sharon said taking a step forward.

Nicolas suddenly raises the barrel of the gun to the side of Flynn's head and says, "Move back or I pull the trigger."

"Ok, Ok, please come down." Sharon says stepping back from her.

"I don't want to hear about promises that you can't keep. No matter where you put me, they will find me. I have family, you can't protect everyone. If I die here, honoring the Cartel, my family will remain safe." Nicholas says shaking his head.

Before Sharon had a chance to react, Nicolas hurled Flynn towards her and after that she wasn't sure exactly what had happened. When the two of them hit to floor it knocked the wind out of her for a second, but the feeling of having Flynn so close made everything else around her seem to disappear. Not even thinking she brought her hand up to stoke his cheek and that's when she saw that there was blood on her hand. Her eyes widened when she realized that the blood was Flynn's. Her eyes quickly moved to his face, and when their eyes locked briefly, Flynn muttered something and gave her one last smile.


	21. Chapter 21

Sorry to keep you all waiting to find what happened to Andy! I know that this chapter is a little long, but I wanted there to be a brief Provenza moment with Liz… I thought the Old Teddy Bear could use a hug with everything going on! Thank you all for the reviews!

Chapter 21

"Andy, open your eyes. Look at me, please look at me. " Sharon said with a shaky voice.

When Tao heard the distress in Sharon's voice, he knew that something was wrong. As he moved closer to them, he saw the pool of blood on the floor by Andy. Kneeling down beside the two of them he says, "Captain have you been hit?"

"No, just Andy," she says almost in a whisper.

"We need to stop the bleeding," Tao, says starting to lean Andy to the side so Sharon can move out from underneath him.

"I'm fine, just apply pressure to the wound," she says feeling the front of him to see if the built made a clean exit. "Damn it, the bullet is still inside him."

"He is losing a lot of blood. I need a towel, a blanket, anything….."Tao says holding his bare hands to Andy's back.

Provenza unstraps his vest and quickly takes his shirt off, "Here use this. He hated it anyway."

Sanchez jogs over and kneels beside Sharon and Andy, "Hang in there Sir, the ambulance is almost here."

As the ambulance pulls up Fritz and Sykes are waiting for them at the entrance of the warehouse. "This way," Sykes says leading them to Andy.

"How long has he been unconscious," the paramedic asks as she sets down her equipment beside Andy.

Tao looked at his watch, "About 3 or 4 minutes now."

Sanchez leans down to help Sharon roll from underneath Andy and to her feet, giving the paramedics all of the room they need.

Pressing gauze to Andy's back, the paramedic notices how much blood he has lost and with the vitals he has, she knows things are not looking good. She looks over at her partner and says, "He has to go now."

Everyone fallows Andy to the ambulance, but before paramedic has time to shut the door Provenza pushes Sharon up and into the ambulance. "She is his Captain," he says noticing that the paramedic is about put up a dispute.

"Fine, but stay out of our way," She says closing the door behind Sharon.

Everyone stands in silence for a moment as they watch the ambulance pull away with Andy.

"I already let Buzz know they are taking him to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, get out of here," Fritz says motioning towards the road.

"Don't we need to wait for FID," Sykes says emotionlessly.

"This is an FBI case; you were all working under FBI orders. I will handle it; now get down there with Flynn and your Captain. I will be down as soon as I get everything taken care of here." Fritz said dialing Agent Fornell.

Back in the ambulance, Sharon sat at Andy's head watching the paramedic's work on him. When she looked down at his face, she realizes that she had been stoking his hair. Whipping the tears from her cheeks, she sees they are getting close to the hospital. As they approaching the emergency room entrance, she leans over, and whispers, "I love you too," before placing a kiss on his temple.

As the doors fly open, she sees the medical staff that was waiting for him. She follows the gurney out of the ambulance and into the emergency room all the way back to double doors, when a nurse stops her. "I'm sorry Ma'am, you can't go in here. Why don't you come with me and we can get your husband checked in."

Still in a daze, Sharon follows the nurse back to the front desk. "What is your husband First and Last name?"

"Andrew Flynn," Sharon says looking through the doors wanting to see what is going on.

"Your husband's date of birth Ma'am?" the nurse says trying to get Sharon's attention.

"I'm sorry, did you say my husband? He is not my husband. He is a Lieutenant for the LAPD, I am his Captain." Sharon says starting to pull herself by together.

"Tell you what Captain, why don't you sit over here and fill out this paper work. Once you have completed as much of it as you can, I will move you to a more private area while you want for the doctors." The nurse says smiling at her.

As Sharon read through the papers tears started filling her eyes once again. She had never realized how much there was about Andy that she didn't know. She closed her eyes thinking to herself, "How could I be in love with this man and know virtually nothing about him," she mentally kicked herself, "Provenza should have come with him. He would be able to answer more these questions than I can."

As she returned to the front desk to give the nurse Andy's paperwork Buzz come running through the door, "Captain, how is he?"

"He has lost a lot of blood, that's about all we know." Sharon says before Buzz moves in and hugs her. She wasn't sure who was more surprised her or Buzz.

"Sorry Captain, I didn't mean to….." but before Buzz could finish she smiles and says, "Thank you."

The two of them waited at the front desk for the rest of the team to come before they moved to a private area. They all sat in silence until Tao's wife rushed in the room. She immediately wrapped her arms around her husband and held him to her for a few moments, thankful that he was fine. She nodded to the rest of the team as she handed Tao a clean change of clothes.

"Thank you," he whispered before kissing her on the cheek.

A few hours later Fritz and Brenda showed up with fresh coffee for everyone. Everyone thanked them for the much needed caffeine before the settled down to wait for the doctor. As the clock approached 5 am, Provenza was starting to lose his patience, "I'm going to go find a damn nurse. Someone has to be able to tell us something."

Knowing that Liz would be getting out of bed soon and watching the new as she always did he thought it be best if he call her before she saw anything on the news.

"Liz" he says softly when she answers the phone.

"Louie, what time is it," she says fumbling with the phone. She had fallen asleep on the couch with Maddie waiting for Sharon.

"It's 5 am. Listen Andy was shot last night. He has been in surgery for hours now. No one is telling us anything, so I don't really have much more than that to tell you. I, I didn't want you to see anything on the news and worry." He said as he ran a hand over his tiered eyes.

"Was anyone else hurt?" Liz says knowing how hard this must be for him right now.

"No, just Andy." He says as he sees a nurse go by.

"Call me the moment you know more," Liz says as a few tears start to fall from her sleepy eyes. When she hangs up the phone she whispers, "Please God let him be ok."

When she opens her eyes, she realizes that Maddie had sat up and was watching her every move. "Who was shot?" Maddie says trembling.

Liz swallows before she tells Maddie that it was Andy. "No, No that can't be true. Aunt Sharon said they were just watching this guy's house, she said it wasn't a big deal."

Maddie paces the living room for a moment before she moves towards the front door.

"Maddie, what are you doing?" Liz says as her grows more and more concerned about the young girl.

"I'm getting my shoes." Maddie says.

"Maddie you are not going anywhere. You need to stay here with me." Liz says getting up from the couch.

"I'm going to go to the hospital. I have to be there. I have to be there." Maddie says as tears start to run down her cheeks.

"Ok, ok" Liz said taking Maddie in her arms, "We will go down to the hospital."

Going through the emergency room doors, Liz motioned for Maddie to follow her to the front desk. "Hello, we are here for Andy Flynn, he was brought in a few hours ago with a gunshot wound." Liz said taking Maddie hand.

"Yes, please follow me." The nurse said leading them back to the private waiting area.

Everyone's eyes widen when the saw Maddie run to Sharon. Sharon had hardly had a chance to stand when Maddie flung her arms around her and buried her head against Sharon's chest.

"I'm so sorry Sharon, I tried to….." Liz said starting to tear up.

Sharon gently squeezed Liz's arm before saying, "its fine. Thank you for bring her to me."

When Liz turned, she saw Louie sitting just staring at her. Without thinking, she slowly walked over and meets him standing at his chair. Looking into each other's eyes, they understood what the other one wanted to say, but never would. Before he knew happened, Liz threw her arms around him. He stood there for a moment before he allowed himself to hold her.

With a nod from Provenza, Buzz and Sanchez shift down a seat so Liz could set next to Provenza.

Sharon had sat with Maddie clinging to her side for a good hour or so before the doctor entered the room. They all got to their feet anxiously waiting to hear the news.

"How is he doctor?" Sharon said nervously.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Jones, I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long. As you know, Lieutenant Flynn lost a lot of blood tonight. The bullet entered from the posterior was lodging itself under his left ventricle. There is no permanent damage, but we he will need to remain under our care for the next few days. He will need stay in the ICU for a little while still, until his heart rate and blood pressure are more stable." Dr. Jones noticed the concern on everyone's face when he mentioned the ICU and so he continued to explain, "As I said before, he lost a lot of blood and therefore, he need a blood transfusion. During surgery, his heart rate and blood pressure were extremely low. We are just being overly cautions monitoring him in the ICU for a few more hours than we normally would."

"Is there any way that we could see him?" Provenza asked.

"Normally we do not allow any visitors for the first two hours in ICU, but due to the circumstances, I think we could let you go back one at time. You can only stay with him for a few minutes. A nurse will be up to get one of you in the next 30 minutes." Dr. Jones said before leaving.

Looking over at Provenza, Sharon said, "Louie, you should go back first."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Sharon sat holding Maddie's hand as each member of her team took their turn visiting Andy. As the line grew shorter and her turn grew closer, the nervous churning in Sharon stomach intensified. When Brenda had returned, Sharon was the last one left to go back. Sharon stood, said her goodbyes to Brenda and Fritz, and then left the room.

"How is he Lieutenant Provenza?" Maddie said softly.

Maddie could hear the grief in Provenza's voice as he answered her, "He looks a little rough kiddo. If there is one thing I can tell you about Andy Flynn, it is that he is a fighter. He has been in bad shape before and he bounced right back."

Maddie sat looking at her hands for a moment, as Liz and Provenza exchanged glances as they saw how upset Maddie was. Even though Maddie had only known Andy for a short time, she had immediately connected with him. He made her smile when all she felt was sadness and she saw how he made Sharon smile too. She wasn't sure exactly what the deal was with Sharon and Andy, but she knew that he had to be pretty special to Sharon if she had him accompany her to her parent's home.

Entering Andy's room Sharon gasped at the site of Andy. She knew it would be hard to see him like this, but the sight of him connected to the ventilator was almost too much for her. As she took his hand she looked around at the heart monitor, the blood preassures monitor, and the IV. She watched his chest rise and fall for a moment and tears slid down her cheeks once again. She wanted to climb into the bed beside him and never let him go. Knowing that she couldn't do that, she took his hand and rubbed it on the side of her face. She closed her eyes remembering the first time he had caressed her cheek. The memory made her smile a little and she placed a kiss on his hand.

Checking her watch, she knew that he time was almost up. She stood and leaned over him to place a kiss on his forehead before she whispered into his ear, "I will be back in a few hours sweetheart. Right now, I need you to rest. Andy, I hope you know just how much I love you!" Whipping the last of her tears away, she heads back to Maddie, Liz, and Provenza.

Provenza and Liz drove Sharon and Maddie back to the house where Sharon had left her car. Sharon helped a very heavy-eyed Maddie into her car and buckled her up before returning to Liz's car. "Thank you for the ride. I'm going to go get her home and shower before I get Rusty. Then I will head back to the hospital. I left both of our numbers with the nurse, in case there is a change in Andy's condition." She said feeling the day catching up with her body.

"Sharon, he will be sleeping for hours. We all need to do the same. Please get some rest, if for no other reason than to keep your strength up for Andy. He is going to need all of us of the next few days." Provenza said concerned about how she was handling all of this. "Why don't we meet back at the hospital at noon? That will give us time to rest and that will give you time to get Rusty. He should be there with us too."

"Your right, we will be no good to him if we are completely exhausted." She said running her hand through her hair.

Once back at Sharon's, she looked at herself in the mirror. The sight of Andy's blood on her clothes sent a sudden wave of nausea through her. Moving quickly towards the toilet she could feel the contents for her stomach rising in her throat. Her body shock slightly as she leaned over top of the toilet thinking there couldn't be anything left in her stomach. She sat down for a moment, allowing her body to rest against the wall. She looked over at the shower and wanted nothing more than to feel that hot water cover her body and wash away the events of the day.

Settling in bed, she grabs her cell phone. She dials the number the nurse gave her to check on Andy one last time before she allowed herself a few hours to rest. Hanging up from the hospital she quickly sent a text to Rusty.

Please be ready by 11:30, I need to pick you up a little earlier than expected.

She was very careful as to what she said in the text, as she did not want to worry Rusty.


	23. Chapter 23

Sharon sat with everyone in the 3rd floor waiting room while Andy was being moved to his new room. Sharon had been watching Rusty as he sat playing on his iPhone. He had hardly said a word to her since she told him about Andy. She could tell that it hurt him that she had not told him sooner. She was so lost in thought about Rusty that she had not even noticed that Chief Taylor had walked in.

Clearing his throat again he said "Captain Raydor, a word please."

She hesitated for a moment before following him out of the waiting room. "What can I do for you Chief?" she said softly.

"Captain, why is it that I was not informed of last night's events until this afternoon and why is it that I had to hear about it from the director of the FBI and not YOU?" he said making no attempt to hide is anger.

She looked at him in shock. He was not there to show his concern or support for Andy. Could he really be such a baster, she thought to herself. She never thought that she would say this, but she actually missed Chief Pope. At least he showed concern for his officers. The thought of Taylor only coming there to lecture her made her livid.

"Captain, have you heard a word I have said?" Chief Taylor said.

"Chief, I apologize that you were not probably informed. However, I was under the impression that this was the FBI's case, not the LAPD. To be completely honest with you Sir, my main concern was the wellbeing of the members of my team." Sharon said in a harsh tone.

Raising his voice to her Taylor says, "Captain, do I really need to explain to you how bad this looks for the LAPD? This is your division and ultimately your responsibility. If you were not capable of leading your division in this case you should have spoken up."

Fury erupted through her entire body, but before she could speak, she felt a hand on her arm startling her. When she turned, she saw Provenza, Tao, Sanchez, Buzz, and Sykes standing behind her.

Provenza stepped to her side, "Chief, we all wanted to thank you for coming down today to express your concern for Flynn. It's very touching that you care so much about his condition." Turning towards Sharon, Provenza continues, "Captain, the nurse just said that Flynn is in his room, why don't you go a head back and check on him first."

"Thank you Lieutenant," turning towards Taylor she says, "Please excuse me Chief; I need to check on Lieutenant Flynn."

Sharon nervously walked back to Andy's room. Walking over to his bed, she had noticed that his color looked a little better today. She knew that right now the best thing for him was to rest, but a part of her couldn't help but wish that he would wake up. She would not feel better until she could hear the sound of his voice again. She ran her the back of her hand down the side of his face before she sat down and took hold of his hand. "What I wouldn't give to see that boyish smirk of yours," she said before placing a kiss on his hand. "Everyone is here. Even Chief Taylor came to see how you are doing," she said closing her eyes trying to keep the tears at bay, when she felt a very weak squeeze on her fingers.


	24. Chapter 24

Sharon watched Andy's hand for a moment thinking that maybe she had imagined that his fingers had moved. When she felt the slightest movement again, she looked up to find his him staring at her. The sadness on her face quickly changed to an enormous smile and her green eyes glistened with happiness. "Andy!" she gasped leaning over to hit the call button. "Try to stay relaxed. The nurse will be here in a minuet to remove the breathing tube," she said as she leaned down to place a kiss on his cheek.

"Mr. Flynn, it's nice to see you awake," the nurse said as she moved closer to his bed.

Sharon started to let go of his hand to move away while the nurse removed the breathing tube, but he grasped her hand tighter. "It's ok Andy, I'm staying right here," she said unable to stop smiling at him.

"Can I sit up a little?" Andy said with a hoarse voice.

"Yes, but slowly. Please tell me if you feel any discomfort," the nurse said as she raised him up to a sitting position. "How is that, do you feel ok?"

"Yeah, thanks," Andy said watching Sharon.

With the nurse gone getting Andy some water he motioned for Sharon to sit on the bed beside him.

"You had us all very worried Lieutenant," she said has he caressed her cheek.

Closing her eyes, she allowed herself a brief moment to lean into his touch before he finally spoke to her, "So I had to go and get myself shot before you would finally admit that you love me?" he said with that boyish smile she missed so much.

"You heard me? You couldn't have," Sharon said in amazement, but before they could say anything else Provenza, Sanchez, and Tao walked in.

"You look good old man," Provenza said walking over to the side of the bed.

"Even after taking a bullet in the back, I still look better than you," Andy said with a smirk.

Sharon started to walk towards the door when Tao said, "Captain, you don't have to leave. The nurse said it was fine that we were all back here."

"Thank you Mike, but I think I will give Buzz the chance to come back and maybe we can sneak Amy back too," Sharon said smiling at the four of them.

After an hour or so of visiting with Andy, he was ready for a nap. As everyone went back to the waiting room Sharon knew that Rusty and Maddie needed to get up and moving around. "Would anyone like to go eat with us while Andy is resting?" Sharon said pulling Maddie to her feet. Sharon had not really expected anyone to take her up on her offer, but she wanted them all to know that there were more than welcome to join her and the kids. To her surprise the one person who accepted was Provenza and of course Liz.

Provenza took them all too nice little place just down the road that he and Andy would eat at whenever they were on that side of town. As they ate, Sharon couldn't help but noticed how good Provenza was with kids. She knew he played into the grump old man act very well, but she never would have imagined that he was such a softy.

"Shocking isn't it," Liz said patting Sharon on the arm, "it's hard to believe he is so good with kids. Our grandkids just adore him, but we don't get to see them as often as we would like."

When they arrived back at the hospital Sharon was happy that they could all go back at once to see Andy. Even though she had to be Captain Raydor with Provenza and Liz around, she was still happy to be able to be with Andy.

As they started to walking towards Andy's room Maddie tugged on Sharon's arm. "What's wrong Maddie?" Sharon said turning back towards the young girl.

"Would it be ok if I sat out there and waited for you?" Maddie said looking down at her feet. Sharon could tell by the sound of Maddie voice that she was very nervous.

Motioning for everyone else to go ahead Sharon and Maddie sat down in the waiting room. "Maddie, I know that you didn't have a chance to see Andy earlier, wouldn't you like to see him now?" Sharon said trying to get Maddie to look at her. "Can I tell you a secret?" Sharon asked leaning in a little closer to Maddie. "I was so scared when I went back to see him this morning. My stomach felt all funny and I thought I was going to be sick."

"Why were you so scared?" Maddie whispered looking up at Sharon.

"Because I care about Andy very much and I was afraid I might not have the chance to tell him that. How about us girls make a little pact?" Sharon said as she saw a hint of a smile at the corner of Maddie's lips. "What if we promise to always tell the people we love how much we love them each and every day? That way we never have to worry if they knew it or not."

When Sharon saw Maddie's tear filled eyes she pulled the young girl into a hug, but before she could apologize for upsetting her she heard Maddie whisper, "I like that pact Aunt Sharon."

"Why don't I could see if you could have just a few minutes by yourself with Andy? And after that, if you still would rather not stay in his room you don't have to." Sharon said placing a kiss on the top of Maddie's head.

"Do you think they would mind?" Maddie said shyly.

"Not at all. You stay right here and I will be right back for you." Sharon said before getting up.

As Sharon and Maddie got closer to Andy's room Maddie squeezed Sharon's hand just a little tighter. "Do you want me to go in with you?" Sharon said stopping outside of Andy's room.

"No….It's ok." Maddie said in a nervous voice.

Andy knew that Maddie was scared to come see him, so he made sure to flash a big smile when she came in the room. "Hey kiddo! Come on in." Andy said excited to see her. "Don't be afraid of all this stuff. I don't really need it; I just let the nurse keep it on me so Provenza has to be nice to me." Andy said with a chuckle. He didn't realize how much pain that little chuckle was going to cause him as he winced in pain.

"Are you ok, do I need to go get Aunt Sharon?" Maddie said rushing to the side of his bed.

"Sorry kid. I guess it's a little too soon for me to laugh." Andy said trying to steady his breathing. "You can sit on my bed if you want. I promise I won't bit you."

"I'm sorry that everyone had to leave so I could come see you. It's silly, I know." Maddie said looking down at her hands.

"It's not silly at all. I'm glad that you and I have a chance to talk by ourselves for a few minutes. I need to ask you for a favor." Andy said tilting Maddie's chin towards him so he could see her face.

"Sure anything!" Maddie said super excited that Andy would need her help with something.

"I'm going to be in here for a few days and you guys have a lot going on over the next week, with the new house and all. I need you to keep an eye on your Aunt for me. Someone needs to make sure she is eating properly and getting enough rest. You think you can handle that for me?" Andy asked watching the smile on Maddie face grow bigger and bigger.

"You know it! I am all over this." Maddie said with a giggle.

"Great, you can call me at night and let me know how she is doing." Andy said smiling at Maddie.

"Yes, Sir!" Maddie said standing up. "I should probably go get everyone else so they can visit with you too."

When Maddie came back with everyone else, Andy gave Sharon a quick thumbs up. She wasn't sure what he had said to Maddie, but she was happy that it worked.


	25. Chapter 25

When Sharon saw Agent Howard waiting for her in her office the next morning, she shot and inquisitive look to Sanchez, who replied with a shrug of his shoulders. She knew that the FBI still needed to debrief Andy, but she didn't expect Agent Howard to be sitting in her office waiting for her first thing Monday morning.

When Agent Howard saw her approaching her office he stood to greet her, "Good Morning Captain."

"Agent Howard what can I do for you this morning?" Sharon said putting her things down on her desk.

"It's urgent that I debrief Lieutenant Flynn first thing this morning. I know that you are just getting into the office, but would it be possible for you to accompany me?" Agent Howard said with urgency in his voice that sent a slight chill through her.

"Of course, would you mind if Lieutenant Provenza joined us?" Sharon said, knowing that Provenza would like the opportunity to check on Andy.

When they arrived at the hospital, Agent Howard didn't waste any time questioning Andy. As Sharon listened to the two of them she couldn't help but to think that something just wasn't right. When Agent Howard finally looked over at her, he could tell by the questioning look on her face that she knew there was more going on. "What's wrong Captain?" he said.

"Why do I have the feeling you already knew that Zarek was the leak?" She said crossing her arms in front of her chest

"The moment Lieutenant Flynn left for the hospital I had Agent Fornell working to find the leak. We found enough evidence to suggest that Agent Zarek was the leak, but we need Lieutenant Flynn to confirm it. The issue is we have not seen or heard from Zarek for the last 24 hours. I have agents watching his house, but it looks like the Cartel is tying up all their loose ends." Agent Howard said turning to Andy.

"Let me guess I'm their last loose end?" Andy said with an irritated look on his face.

"Yes. That is why it was so urgent that I meet with you first thing this morning. We need to make arrangements to ensure your safety." Agent Howard said ready to hear all of Andy's objections.

"I'm going to be out of here in a day or say. I don't need a babysitter; I can take care of myself." Andy said a coldly.

"Lieutenant I already spoke to your doctor and he has already said that you need to have someone with you for the first week or so." Agent Howard said looking over at Provenza.

"Oh no. There is no way I'm taking care of this big baby," with a smirk, he looks over at Sharon. "The Captain will have plenty of room by the time he is released. Why can't he stay with her?"

Before Sharon even had a chance to protest, Agent Howard interjected. "Lieutenant Provenza, that's actually a good idea. I will leave the three of you to work it out. You let me know what is needed from the FBI and I will make it happen. I will have an Agent outside this door until you're released Lieutenant and then we will have once posted outside Captain Raydor's house."

Provenza stood in shock. He was only joking trying to get a rise out of Sharon, but when he saw the look on her face as Agent Howard backed up his theory, he knew he was in trouble. "Tell you what, I will leave the two of you to work this out," nodding goodbye to Andy he said, "I will wait for you at the car Captain, take your time."

When it was just Sharon and Andy left in the room Andy wasn't sure what to say to her. He could tell by her reaction that she didn't think it was a good idea. He knew that she loved him, but even he had to admit that the two of them living together would be a step that he wasn't even sure he was ready for. Watching her stand there, he could tell that her mind was working nonstop. She was running through all of the possible issue and trying to find a resolution to all of them, when broke her train of thought by speaking.

"Stop worrying about it; I will take care of it. My sister has been wanting to come visit for a while and I always put her off. It's no big deal." Andy said smiling at her.

"It's not that I don't want you to. I don't know how Rusty will take it, moving Maddie here had him feeling a little out of sorts. I'm just worried that if you move in he will feel like I'm pushing him out. Right now I think he fancies himself as the man of the house." Sharon said hoping that Andy wouldn't notice the nervousness in her voice.

"You should probably get going. If you leave him out there to long the old fart might have a heatstroke," Andy said pulling her towards him.

"Andy we can't, someone could come in," Sharon said allowing him to pull her towards him. Before she knew it, his lips brushed softly over hers. He placed his hand on her hip pushing her slightly so she would sit on the side of his bed making it a little more comfortable for him. She allowed her body to move towards the side of the bed as she felt his tongue glide slowly over her lip. She leaned in more to deepin the kiss, when a slight moan escaped her mouth as she felt his tongue intertwining with hers. Knowing that they couldn't continue at the rate they were going, she put her hand on his chest and leaned back. "I should get going," said breathlessly.

The ride back to the office was an awkward silence. She knew that she should say something to Provenza, but she couldn't find the right words. To her surprise when he put the car into park back at the station, he sat there for a brief second before saying, "Listen Sharon, I was just joking about Flynn staying with you. I had no idea that Fritz would agree to it. I will stay with Flynn, it's no big deal."

"It's ok, we will figure something out. Andy said something about his sister coming to stay with him." Sharon said feeling guilty for making him suffer the entire way back to the station.

"His sister, are you kidding me. She hasn't spoken to him since his mother's funeral, when he showed up drunk." He said in his usual grumpy tone.

"But he said she had been asking to come see him. Why would he lie to me?" Sharon said realizing that Andy was giving her away out without her feeling guilty about it. "I will stop by and see him on my way home tonight and work everything out," she said getting out of the car.

Since Major Crimes had not caught a case yet, everyone spent the afternoon catching up on paperwork, which worked out good for Sharon because her mind wondered all day about the situation with Andy. She knew that there was no way that Andy could stay with Provenza; they would end up killing each other.

She let out a heavy sigh and picked up her phone, "Gavin, how are you? Yes, I know I have been meaning to call, but things have been so crazy. Well actually, I need a favor. I sign the closing paperwork and get the keys on Wednesday. I need a good decorator and I need one fast. Someone that I can give a basic idea of what I want and let them take it and run with it. Oh, and someone that will work well the Rusty and Maddie, they can have their rooms done any way they want."

"Well sweetie, you called the right person. You need Stella, she is FABULUS! I will text you her info just as soon as I get out of court this afternoon. "Gavin said with a quick goodbye.

It was nearly 5:00 pm when she looked at her watch thinking, "It's now or never," as she headed to go get Rusty and Maddie from the break room. "How about we grab something to eat before we go see Andy?" she said stepping into the break room.

She watched the two of them eat, waiting for just the right moment to approach the subject of Andy moving in with them. Finally, she decided that there was never going to be the right moment. "I talked with a decorator this afternoon. She will be meeting us at the house Wednesday night. The two of you can tell her how you would like your bedroom's decorated. How does that sound?"

"Cool," Rusty said in between bites.

She was a little shocked that Maddie didn't seem excited about it. She had thought that a young girl would love to decorate her bedroom anyway she had wanted. Feeling the slightest apprehension from Maddie made her think twice about tell them about Andy however, she swallowed down a drink of water and continued. "There is something else I would like to run past the two of you. As you know, Andy doesn't really have any family here and the doctors can't release him yet from the hospital because he lives by himself."

Rusty's head jerked up quickly. He knew exactly where this was going and he didn't like it. He was finally coming to terms with having Maddie there and now she wanted to move Andy in too. He couldn't help but feel as if things were moving too fast. A new kid, a new boyfriend, why would she need to keep him around anymore? Now she would have Andy and Maddie, her own little family.

"We wouldn't have to come to the station anymore after school would we?" Maddie asked grinning from ear to ear.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't," Sharon said watching Rusty.

"Rusty, would that be ok with you?" Sharon said trying to sound calm even though she was nervous as hell.

"Yeah, sure it's your house. You can move whoever you want into it." Rusty said without looking at her.

Her chest tighten as his words bruised her heart. She knew he didn't mean to hurt her, but she hadn't expected him to revert to the old Rusty. The Rusty who wouldn't put his clothes in the spare bedroom closet, the Rusty who pushed her away every chance he could. Her mind was racing. What was she going to do? How was she going to fix this, she had to have a solution by the time they arrived at the hospital.


	26. Chapter 26

The ride to the hospital was uncomfortable silent for Rusty. Maddie sat in the back listing to her iPod and he could tell by the intense look on Sharon's face that she was deep in thought. He was starting to think that maybe he had over reacted to the idea of Andy moving in with them, while he recovered.

"So when does Andy get out of the hospital," Rusty said trying to break the silence.

"Um…. I believe its Thursday, but he hasn't said for sure," Sharon said focusing on the traffic ahead of them.

"So who will stay with Andy if he doesn't stay with us?" Rusty asked.

"I'm not sure at the moment, but Rusty it's not for you to worry about. Everything will work out," Sharon said trying to convince herself just as must as she was trying to convince Rusty.

Rusty knew that tone in her voice. He had heard it many times before when he had upset her. He thought that he had gotten past his trust issues with her. She wasn't the Sharon who had left him to fend for himself; she was the Sharon who selflessly took him in when he had nowhere else to go.

Andy was sitting in the chair by his bed when the three of them entered his room. He half smirked to himself when he saw the three of them together; they had become a little family overnight it seemed. He noticed right away that something was off with Sharon and possible Rusty too, but Maddie was Maddie. She was so chipper sometimes, it was almost infections, he thought as she came bopping over to the side of his chair.

"We brought you something to eat. Aunt Sharon said the food here sucked," Maddie said with a grin.

"Maddie, I don't believe that was the exact terminology that I used," Sharon said putting her hands on her hips.

"You are up and moving around. That's good, have you been for a walk yet today?" Sharon said to Andy hoping that he wasn't pushing himself to hard.

"Actually I have not. Would you kids want to take this old man for a walk around the floor?" Andy said looking over at Rusty.

"I'm good, I am going to work on some homework," Rusty said setting his backpack down.

"Just you two beautiful ladies then?" Andy said smiling at the two of them.

By the time they made it to the end of the hall Andy needed a moment to rest. He had forgotten how much of a toll this took on this body. Sharon had suggested that the head back to his room, but he was determined he was going to do one full lap around the floor. Even if it meant that he had to sit and take a break half way. He hated being stuck in that bed all day. When they finally made it back to his room Sharon insisted that he get back into bed. He did as she asked, letting her think that he only was doing it because she said so. The truth was that the walk made him very tiered and he was more than happy to get back in the bed and rest.

The nurse came in shortly after to give him his next dose of pain meds. Looking over his chart she says, "Looks like if you keep up the good work Mr. Flynn the doctor will have your discharge papers ready by Thursday," turning toward the kids as she walks out of the room she says, "I'm sure you guys will be happy to have your Dad back home, won't you?"

Once the nurse was gone, Maddie and Rusty looked at each other and laughed. However, they quickly realized they were the only two laughing. Sharon shook her head at the two of them and told Rusty to take Maddie down to the gift shop so she could pick out a magazine for Andy.

Rust figured by the serious look on Sharon's face that she wanted to talk to Andy alone. He looked back and forth between her and Andy for a moment. He was smart enough to know that she wanted them to go so she could talk to Andy about being released from the hospital and he knew that he was the reason for the sadness in her voice. He sighed and turned to walk to the door, but something made him stop. He turned around quickly and blurted out, "Andy did Sharon tell you the good new yet?"

"Rusty, what are you doing?" Sharon said stepping towards him.

"Good news?" Andy said a little confused.

"Yeah, you're going to be moving in to the new house with us while you recover. I will forewarn you now; Maddie is pretty excited about it." Rusty said smiling at Sharon.

"Rusty, are you sure?" She said placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He said before hugging her, "Come on Maddie, let's go down to the gift shop."

"You want to tell me what that was all about?" Andy said once the kids were out of the room.

"Do you want to tell me why you lied to me about your sister?" She said raising an eyebrow at him.

"Provenza told you didn't he? That old goat, I swear he couldn't keep his mouth shut to save his soul." Andy said shaking his head.

"It doesn't matter who told me. Why did you lie about it?" She said wondering if he lied because he didn't want to move in with them.

"I didn't want to feel like you had to take me in like I was a stray dog. And to be honest, I wasn't sure if we were ready to live under the same roof." He said looking up at her.

"I don't think I would compare you to a stray dog," She said smiling at him. "I was a little worried about that myself. Andy, I haven't shared a house with a man for a very long time and I wasn't sure how the kids would take it."

"Is that what was wrong with you and Rusty when you got here?" Andy said locking his fingers with hers.

"Rusty, seemed upset with the idea during dinner, I was amazed that he brought it up," Sharon said sitting down on the side of Andy's bed.

Andy sat up and bushed a stay hair out of her eyes. "Maybe he just wanted you to be happy," he whispered as he leaned in to kiss her. "Are you sure that you are ready for this?" He whispered into her lips.


	27. Chapter 27

The next few days passed by quickly. The Major Crimes division caught a case mid-day Tuesday that had the team working through the night. There had been a home invasion in the Woodland Hills area that left three people dead. This was the third home invasion in the last month in that area and the Mayor was starting to pressure Chief Pope for result. Since Robbery/Homicide had not uncovered any leads on the first two cases, Chief Pope turned everything over to Major Crimes.

With the new case, Sharon's hands were somewhat tied and so she agreed to let Rusty and Maddie stay unsupervised at that the apartment. When she came home the next morning to get the two of them ready for school she was astonished by what she found. There were boxes everywhere; she couldn't believe that Rusty and Maddie had spent the evening packing the rest of the apartment up for her. She smiled at the thought of the two of the working together.

After dropping Rusty and Maddie off at school Sharon went back home to shower and change clothes. On her way back into the office, Lieutenant Tao called to let her know that Pope and Taylor were waiting for her. "Damn it! We have barely had this case for 24 hours," She said to herself as she slid her phone back into her purse.

As she entered the squad room, Provenza met her at the door "Captain, they are not happy. I know that there is pressure coming from the top on this, but we are working three different cases. They have to give us a little room here."

"I will take care of it, thank you Lieutenant. "She said with a weak smile.

"Captain Raydor, I thought I made it clear to you yesterday that we needed 120% from your division on this. I have to admit I was a little shocked when Chief Pope and I come down for an update and you are nowhere to be found. I believe when we previously discussed your ability to lead this team, you assured me that your personal life would not create any issues with your work." Taylor said in a condescending tone.

Pope looked at Taylor confused and shocked. He had heard from several sources that Taylor was allowing his new position to give him a big head, but this was the first time he had seen it firsthand. "Captain, I think what Chief Taylor is trying to say, is that these cases are very important and with your team being down a man, we need as much help on this as we can get." Pope said shooting a look over at Taylor.

"Chief Pope, I understand the importance of these cases and the urgency to provide results to the Mayor. Would it be possible for you to give me a few hours to follow up on lead? I am aware that the you need to update the Mayor, but I would presume you would like to have something more concrete before you provide an update." She said ignoring Taylor.

"I can keep the Mayor at bay for a few hours, but that's all I can give you Captain." Pope said standing. Before leaving her office, he turns and says, "Sharon, how is your niece settling in?"

"She is doing just fine, Chief. Thank you for asking." Sharon said a little surprised.

"Let's get this cased closed as soon as possible so you can focus on moving her into that new house of yours." He said leaving her office.

"Yes, Sir. I will be in touch soon." She said.

As Pope and Taylor left everyone slowly turned to look at her. "We only have a few hours to catch a break. Let's look over the crime scene photos again," she said walking towards them.

Sanchez spoke first, "Ma'am, the victims in the first home invasion was an elderly couple. Both were died from bullet wounds to the chest. It looks like the time of death would have been morning to early afternoon. The place was tossed, looks like they were looking for cash, jewelry, and anything else small that they could take without drawing any attention to themselves."

Tao immediately follow up with the second crime scene photos, "The second was an elderly woman. The victim took a bullet to the chest, grazing her heart and lodging into her spinal cord. If the bullet wouldn't have killed her, the injures that her spinal cord sustained would have been enough to…"

Provenza quickly interrupted, "Get to the point Tao."

"Yes, according to the notes, her grandson called 911 at noon. The house had been tossed, but no large items were missing," Tao said.

"The last case left three victims; all had been tied up in the dining room and killed with one shot to the head. Time of death was 10:30 Monday night. The house was tossed, but we have yet to find that anything is missing." Provenza said.

"They tossed the house to make it look like the others, so they were looking for something specific." Sykes added.

"Exactly, this would lead me to believe that this most recent case has nothing to do with the others. It was setup as a copycat, but this family was targeted for something specific." Sharon said studying the photos on the board. "We need to go through that house again from top to bottom and figure out what they were there for."

The team had spent hours searching the house, but had not come up with anything. Sharon looked at her watch and knew that she was running out of time. She was looking through the master bedroom when her phone rang, it was Pope, "Chief" she said hesitantly.

"Captain, I hope you have good news for me. " Pope said.

Sharon explained everything to him as she was walking towards the stairs, when she stopped suddenly.

"So basically what you're telling me is that you don't really have any evidence." Pope said in an annoyed tone.

"Wait Chief, I think I just found figured out why this family was target. May I call you back in 15 minutes? I need to find that evidence for you." Sharon said sharply.

Tao stepped out of one of the other bedrooms, "What do you have Captain?"

"Something was hanging on this wall. The family had a housekeeper didn't they? I need her hear now." Sharon said hoping that whatever had been hanging on that wall was the missing piece they needed.

The housekeep confirmed that there had been an expensive painting on the now deserted wall. She knew that the family had a photo of it somewhere. When Sharon saw that photograph, she recognized it right away as one of Gerhard Richter's paintings. "I know he has one that sold recently for $34 million," she said shaking her head.

"How do you know that Captain?" Sykes asked.

"I do have a life outside of the office Amy," Sharon said with a smile as she dialed Pope.

When they arrived back at the office, Sharon found Pope, Taylor, and the Mayor waiting in her office. "Captain Raydor, I wanted to thank you personally for how quickly your team solved this case. I will be speaking to the press this afternoon, would you like to join us?" the Mayor said extending her hand to congratulate her.

"Thank you Sir, but…."Sharon said before Taylor interrupted her.

"Sir, Captain Raydor still needs to find the assailants from the first two crimes." Taylor says with a smug look on his face.

"Understood, thank you again Captain, somehow I have a feeling I will be seeing many more good things come from this division." The Mayor said before leaving her office.

Pope took his time getting up, wanting to put some distance between himself and Taylor. "Sharon, I just wanted to let you know that I will be talking with Taylor this afternoon. I know that he wants to prove how good a job he can do, but it's evident he is pushing a little too hard."

"Thank you, Sir." Sharon said not sure how to respond.

After she shared how pleased the Mayor was with the division, Provenza kindly reminded her of the time. "Thank you, Lieutenant. The kids and I will swing by to see Andy after am I am done with the closing tonight. Can I expect to see you there?" Sharon said.

"If we time it just right, I will be out of there before you get there." He said jokingly.

When Sharon and the kids arrived at the hospital, she noticed right away that Andy was acting differently. Worried that something might be wrong with him, she was trying to find a reason to send Rusty and Maddie out of the room so they could talk.

"Andy is this your bag of stuff over here?" Maddie said being a little nosier than she should be.

"Yeah, about that," Andy said looking over at Sharon. "The doctor has surgery first thing tomorrow morning and so he released me tonight." He noticed the sudden change in Sharon's posture "It's no big deal. I should be able to stay at my place. I'm feeling fine and a goodnight sleep in my own bed will do wonders for my back."

"NO! You can't do that. Aunt Sharon, tell him, tell him can't. You guys said he was staying with us." Maddie said clearly upset.

"Andy, Maddie is right. The doctor has already said you can't be alone for long periods of time of the next few days. We will figure out the sleeping arrangement once we get home." Sharon said patting Maddie on the back.

Maddie turned towards Sharon and with a confused look said, "I normally sleep on the couch, why can't he just sleep in your room? He is your boyfriend isn't he?"


	28. Chapter 28

Andy could tell by the distressed look on Sharon's face that she had no clue how to respond to Maddie. "Maddie, I'm sure that Sharon will agree with me when I say that it's not really appropriate for the two of us to share a bedroom." Andy said hoping that he didn't say the wrong thing.

"I don't see what the big deal is. You two are way older than Luke is." Maddie said.

"My son, Luke? What does he have to do with this?" Sharon said still trying to grasp the thought of Maddie referring to Andy has her boyfriend.

"When he came to visit last June Grandma and Grandpa let him and his girlfriend sleep in the same room. If Grandma and Grandpa didn't care why would the two of you?" Maddie said really not understanding why Sharon was making such a big deal out of it.

"I didn't know that Luke and Kelly were visiting my parents last summer." Sharon said talking more to herself than anyone else.

"Yeah, Luke comes to visit every year for my birthday. When he comes, I always stay with Grandma and Grandpa. I hope that he marries Kelly, she is the nicest girlfriend he has ever brought home." Maddie said as Sharon slowly sat down in the chair beside Andy's bed.

"Let's talk about this later please. We need to get Andy home and we still need to figure out what we are doing for dinner." Sharon said looking like she was deep in thought.

Andy had been watching Sharon all through dinner. He knew that what Maddie had said at the hospital had baffled her, but he wasn't sure which part of it was bothering her. He didn't see what the big deal was about her son visiting his grandparents, but it obviously was bothering Sharon or was it the thought of them moving their relationship to the next level. Maybe she was having second thoughts about him staying with them.

After dinner, Sharon sent Rusty and Maddie to go finish their homework while she cleaned up the dishes. Andy watched her for a moment before he got up to help her with the dishes. "I don't think so Andy," Sharon said in a stern voice. "You are not to be doing any house work anytime soon."

"I can carry a few dishes over to the sink. It won't kill me." He said leaning over to place a kiss on her forehead. "I was thinking, you seemed a little upset about what Maddie said back at the hospital. Why don't you let me take the couch and you and her can have your bed."

"You can't sleep on the couch, you won't get any rest, and I believe you said your back was bothering you. We….We can sleep in my room, but we have to be careful Andy." She said looking up at him.

"Would you mind if I take a shower before bed? The hot water would feel good and loosen up my lower back." Andy said leaving back against the counter top.

After making everyone lunch for the following day and getting Maddie settled in on the couch Sharon went into her room to help Andy get into the shower. She could see that he was in pain as he was trying to get undressed, but he insisted he could do it himself. She knew that it was going to be hard for him letting everyone help him so much, but she didn't think he would be this bullheaded about it. When she heard him struggling in the shower she couldn't take it anymore. She double checked to make sure that the bedroom door was locked and then she slipped into the master bathroom as quietly as possible. He was leaning his head against the wall allowing the hot water to hit his lower back, when she slid into the shower with him.

"Why don't you let me wash your back for you?" she said trying not to startle him.

"Sharon, what are you doing?" he said looking around quickly as if they were going to be caught by Rusty or Maddie.

"Andy don't be so bullheaded. Let me help you." She said reaching for the soap.

Andy stood watching her every move. She pretended as if she didn't notice, but when he saw a smile on the corner of her mouth, he knew she noticed. She started with his arms, washing the top and underneath. He let out a slight chuckle when she moved to his underarms. She moved to the other arm and did the same. She washed his neck then his chest. When she noticed him smirking, she leaned into him and whispered, "Turn around so I can wash your back" she tried not to laugh when he pouted. She slowly washed his back being careful not to disturb his stitches. As she moved down to his lower back, he tensed up. "Would you let me work those out for you?" She asked and he could hear the concern in her voice.

"You don't have to. It just from being in that hospital bed, I will be find after a goodnights sleep." He said turning towards her.

"Andy your back is all knotted up." Smiling at him she says, "This will go much easier for you, if you learn right from the start to give me what I want."

"You win," he says raising his hands as if to surrender.

She helped him dry off and put some pajama bottoms on. Lying on his stomach a crossed her bed she slowly started messaging his lower back. "Where did you learn to do that?" he said feeling his entire body relax to her touch.

"I don't know," she said happy that it was helping him.

"Can I ask you something?" he said turning a little to look up at her.

"Of course," she said.

"Why did Maddie talking about your son bother you so much?" he said hoping she wouldn't be upset with him for asking.

She didn't respond at first, just kept working on his back. "I didn't know that he visited my parents so much. I would have thought that someone would have mentioned it to me." She said and Andy could tell that she felt a little betrayed by her family.

"I need to get you bandaged up before you go to bed." She said softly as she climbed off the bed.

"Does it hurt?" She asked as she put the last piece of tape over the bandage.

"A little," he said knowing that they had not really had time to talk about everything that had happened. He grabbed her hand as she started to pass him, "I'm sorry." He said without looking up at her.

"Andy we don't have to do this." She said with an unsteady voice.

"I think this is where you're supposed to tell me that you told me so." He said finally looking up at her. She had closed her eyes trying to keep herself from crying, but the tears still managed to spill from her eyes. "Look at me Sharon, I'm right here. You're stuck with me." He said wrapping his arms around her, pulling her towards him.

"I thought I was going to lose you." She said wrapping her arms around his neck pulling his head to her chest. "I thought I wouldn't have the chance to tell you…to tell you how much I loved you."

Pulling his head back so he could look into her yes he says, "I love you too."

"Don't ever do that to me again." She says as he tightens his arms around he waste.

After a few moments, she pulls herself together and motions for him to climb into bed. As she settles down beside him, he pulls her back towards his chest and wraps his arm around her waist. After a few minutes, she sighs and says, "Andy I need to tell you something about Maddie." When he doesn't say anything she turns to find him already fast asleep.


	29. Chapter 29

Andy smiled when he say Captain Raydor on the screen of his iPhone. He knew that she felt bad for leaving him home for the day; but since he had been released a day earlier than they had expected, she didn't really have a choice. "You do realize that this is the third time you have called me this morning?" he said snickering at her.

"Well hello to you too," she said smiling to herself. "I just wanted to tell you that I made lunch for you last night and there is some tea in the fridge too."

"And here I thought that you would come home and have lunch with me." Andy said sounding like a disappoint little boy.

"You know that I can't, but I will drop Rusty and Maddie off in a few hours and they can keep you company." She said as Provenza knocked on her door. "I have to run, but I will talk to you soon."

Andy sat flipping through channels board out of his mind. Getting up he went to the fridge to see what she had made for lunch. When he opened the fridge door, he couldn't believe that there was hardly any food in it. He wondered how she had so little in the house with two growing kids.

A few hours later, Andy woke up to the sound of the lock on the front door. He looked at his watch and figured it was Rusty and Maddie.

"Maddie, I am fully capable of sitting up myself." He said as she hurried over to help him.

"Sorry, Aunt Sharon said we were to help you." Maddie said pulling back from him.

"You feeling ok today?" Rusty said as he made his way to the living room.

"Yeah, board out of my mind, but I'm doing ok. You think you could do me a favor?" Andy said moving over so Rusty could sit down.

"Sure, what do you need?" Rusty said.

"I want to cook dinner for Sharon tonight. I'm sure you guys could use a home cooked meal as well. The problem is there is no food in this house." Andy said, but before he could continue, Maddie interrupted him.

"Aunt Sharon said that you were not a loud to do anything around the house. I'm pretty sure that she would include cooking. "Maddie said in a very serious tone.

"Scary isn't it. She follows the rules just as much as Sharon does." Rusty said smirking at Maddie.

"Well what if the two of you do the cooking and I supervise? Would that be acceptable Maddie?" Andy asked trying to make the young girl happy. "Rusty can you run to the market down the road and pick up a few things for me?" Andy said not sure if Sharon would approve of him sending Rusty out by himself.

"Sure thing," Rusty said happy to get out of the house for a little while.

When Rusty returned, Andy had them start dinner right away. He noticed how good Rusty and Maddie worked together when they wanted to. When they were not looking, he snapped a quick photo of them with his iPhone. He would have sent it to Sharon, but he wanted this to be a surprise. Once everything was in the oven, he sent Rusty and Maddie off to work on their homework.

"Does she always do her homework outside?" Andy asked Rusty as he watched Maddie out on the balcony.

"That's where she spends most of her time when we are here. I have told her she can sit in my room if she wants, but she always says she likes it outside." Rusty said wondering if he would every understand the opposite sex.

"Will you watch dinner for me?" Andy said getting up and walking towards the sliding glass doors. "You need any help with your homework?" Andy said walking towards Maddie.

"No, I'm fine. Should you be out here?" Maddie asked gathering her books to clear a spot for Andy to sit.

"I'm fine Kiddo. Don't worry so much." Andy said slowly sitting down beside her.

"Wouldn't it be easier to do your homework at the table like Rusty?" Andy asked studding her.

"I…Um…Its easier if I just do it out here." Maddie said quietly.

"How are things going at your new school?" Andy said watching the change in her demeanor.

"It's ok I guess. I would rather go to my old school, but that's pretty much out of the question." Maddie said with a sadness in her voice.

"You miss your friends don't you? You will make new ones before you know it." Andy said trying to offer her some reassurance that it would all workout. "Maybe your school has a swim team. Sharon said you were a very good swimmer."

"I'm really not that good." Maddie said noticing that Andy looked uncomfortable, "Do you need any of your medicine?"

"No, but I should probably get back inside. I might get us both in trouble if I'm out here when Sharon comes home." Andy said starting to get up.

When Sharon came home, she found Maddie setting the table and Rusty taking dinner out of the oven. "That smells wonderful!" She said eager to see what smelt so good. "What is it?"

"Roast, potatoes, and carrots." Rusty said patting his stomach.

"The three of you cooked that? Oh I can't wait to taste it, I'm famished." She said making her way to the table.

"More like the two of them. I only supervised." Winking at her he says, "I'm not supposed to be doing anything around the house remember."

The four of them sat at the table eating dinner like any other family. Andy watched as Sharon asked Rusty and Maddie about their day and if their homework was finished.

"We both finished our homework earlier and we don't have school tomorrow." Rusty said.

"I remember Rusty. The two of you can keep our guest company tomorrow while I am at work. And I thought that after dinner we would drive over to the new house. Stella and her staff have already started working and she needs to go over a few things with me." Sharon said hoping Andy would be up for the car ride.

When they walked in Sharon was not expecting to be greeted by Gavin. "How are you doing Sweetie?" he said walking over to Sharon.

"What are you doing here Gavin?" Sharon said hugging him.

"I knew you better than you know yourself. Stella and I are going to take care of everything for you. Oh my goodness, is that little Maddie?" Gavin said walk over to Maddie.

"She's not so little anymore, is she?" Sharon said smiling at the young girl standing before them.

"You're even more beautiful in person." Gavin says giving Maddie a big hug. "You let Uncle Gavin know if you need anything, anything at all."

Maddie just stood there not sure of what to do. "He is an old friend sweetie. He is just excited to see you." Sharon said taking the young girl by the hand. "Would you like to see your room?"

Motioning to the seat in front of the bay window Sharon says, "This is my favorite part about the room. What do you think?"

"It's a big room." Maddie said looking around.

Sharon was disappointed in the lack of excitement in Maddie's voice. "Why don't I leave you to think about how you want Stella to decorate it?" Sharon said and leaving the room.

Andy had been sitting at the kitchen counter looking over everything with Sharon and Stella when his back started aching a little. "I think I need to get up and walk around a little." He said squeezing Sharon's arm. He decided some fresh air and a short walk outback would be nice. He started walking toward the pool when he heard something on the back patio.

"Maddie what are you doing out here?" he said walking toward her. As he got closer, he could hear her sniffling and he saw her whipping her face franticly before he reached her. "What's wrong Kiddo?" he said sitting down next to her on the swing.

"Can we go back to Aunt Sharon's apartment now? Please." She said bring her knees up to her chest.

"I would rather you tell me what has you so upset fist." Andy said putting his arm around her.

"I want to go home." Maddie said allowing Andy to pull her over towards him.

"As soon as Sharon is done going over everything with Stella." Andy said softly.

"No, I mean I want to go to home. To my home, I don't want to stay here anymore. Please Andy, will you tell Aunt Sharon to let me go back home. She will listen to you." Maddie said in between sobs.

"Hey, come on now. I know that it's hard moving to a new place and starting a new school, but you have to give it a chance." Andy said running his hand over the top of her head trying to settle her down.

"Please Andy, I don't belong here." Maddie said crying harder into the side of Andy shirt.


	30. Chapter 30

On the way home, Rusty couldn't stop talking about his new room. After hearing level of excitement in his voice, Sharon was certain that he had never had a room decorated just for him.

"Maddie what did you and Stella's assistant come up with for your room?" Sharon said hoping Maddie was starting to become at least a little excited.

"She is listening to her iPod. Do want me to get her for you?" Rusty said.

"No, leave her to her music." Sharon said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Andy sat in silences trying to figure out how to approach Sharon about Maddie's breakdown. He couldn't imagine how hard it was for her to have lost both of parents, moving to a new state and staring a new school. He had a feeling that she felt more of a burden to Sharon than she was a blessing. He looked over at Sharon briefly thinking about how difficult the last few weeks had been for her. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty himself. He had contributed to Sharon's stress and to Maddie's as well. He thought about how hard it was for Maddie to come see him in the hospital and it made him feel horrible.

When they got back to the apartment, Rusty headed to his room and Maddie grabbed her iPad and headed for the balcony.

"Maddie you can stay in here and talk with Andy and me." Sharon said walking into the kitchen.

"If it's ok, I would like to face time with my friend Jenny." Maddie said pulling the door open.

Sharon sighed in defeat. "If it's not face time it's some other chatting she does in that thing."

"I take it she will be out there for a while then?" Andy said thinking this would be a good opportunity to talk with Sharon.

"Until she is ready to shower and go to bed. She would rather be out there than in here with me." Sharon said watching the young girl.

"Maybe you should go out and talk to her." Andy said.

"Don't think I haven't tried that." Sharon said turning to face Andy. "I worry that if I push to much she will pull away from me even more, on the other hand I feel her slipping further away with every day that passes. What do I do Andy? I hear her cry at night and I want nothing more than to hold her. When she first came, she slept in my bed for a night or two and the night you were shot. I made the mistakes of tucking a strand of hair behind her ear one morning and she caught me watching her sleep." Sharon looked up him with sadness in her eyes, "That was the last time she slept in my room."

"Have you thought of spending an afternoon with just her?" Andy said taking her in his arms.

"I would love to spend time with her, just the two of us. I just can't find the time." Placing her head on Andy's chest she says, "I don't remember it being this hard when my kids were younger. I guess that's what made FID such a good fit for me. It was demand in different ways than Major Crimes is."

"You were also younger then Sharon and working the way you do only makes it harder on you. You know Maddie and I were talking about the pool today. I'm guessing she left her swim suite back in Salt Lake City, maybe tomorrow you could get out of the office a little early and the two of you could go buy her a new one?" trying to lighten her mood he jokingly said, "and maybe a nice skimpy bikini for yourself…"

"Wouldn't you like that." She said with a smile. "Andy oh my goodness that's it! You're an absolute genius!" She said placing a kiss on his lips before she ran off to her bedroom.


	31. Chapter 31

For the first time in a long time, Sharon woke up feeling refreshed and somewhat excited. She wasn't sure if it was from waking up in Andy's arms or the surprise she was cooking up for Maddie, possible both. She felt like today was going to be the start of a new beginning. She was going to get into work early, finish up all the paperwork Taylor gave her, and then slip out for a long weekend. She smiled at the thought of what the weekend would bring. A girls only afternoon, family night with the four of them, moving into the house, and Monday she would have the day off to take Andy to the doctor and finish unpacking.

When she arrived at the office she looked at her watch, figuring she had a good hour before anyone would arrive. She was determined she was going to put that hour to good use. She looked at the stack of paperwork Taylor needed before the end of the day and took a deep breath. Most people hated paper work, but after years of filling out incident reports, she didn't really mind it.

With very few interruptions, she was able to finish everything by 2:00 pm and was anxiously heading out the door when she ran into Agent Howard.

"Heading out for the weekend Captain?" Fritz said as she passed him at the elevator.

"Oh Agent Howard um… Yes. Did we have a meeting scheduled today?" Sharon said hoping she had not forgotten anything.

"No, I was just stopping by to finalize the surveillance for Lieutenant Flynn." Fritz said pulling out a folder. "Here is the file you will need. Look it over and call me if you have any questions. I have included a list of all the agents and their photo ID's that will be covering all the shifts. I have clearance to start this Monday, does that work for you?"

"Yes, thank you. Lieutenant Flynn and I will look over this and reach out to you if needed." Sharon said trying to hurry him along.

When she got in her car, she sent a quick text to Andy to let him know she was on her way to pick Maddie up.

"What are you doing home so early?" Rusty said when Sharon walked into the kitchen.

"I was hoping to do a little shopping with Maddie this afternoon." Sharon said hesitantly.

"Good, she needs to get out of the house. I have to say, she has been a good babysitter today. She has been teaching Andy how to use her iPad. Watching him try to keep up with her is pretty amusing. I have to hand it to her, she knows her electronics." Rusty said in between gulps of milk.

"She does have a knack for them doesn't she? I suppose it comes to her naturally, her father did a lot of work on computers. I'm sure she picked up a lot from him over the years." Sharon said watching Maddie and Andy out on the balcony.

"Um… I.. I know we have a busy weekend, but do you think I could stay over at Josh's house tonight?" Rusty crossing his fingers she would say yes. "I could have Josh come over until you and Maddie are back." Rusty added hoping that would seal the deal.

"Sure, why not." Sharon said happy that Rusty finally starting to live the life of a normal teenager, but also disappointed that her family night was now minus one.

"Hey" Andy said as Sharon walked out onto the balcony.

"How is your back doing this afternoon?" Sharon said leaning against the sliding glass doors.

"Not too bad. My new doctor here has been doing a good job taking care of me today." Andy said nudging Maddie.

"I hear that you have been busy today." Sharon said gesturing to the iPad.

"Sharon, has this kid ever showed you how to use FaceTime? And the photo's she can take with this thing are amazing. I think you might have a little photographer on your hands." He said winking at her.

"Maybe you could show me after we get back from shopping." Sharon said coolly.

"Shopping? Really?" Maddie said trying not to sound overly excited.

"Yes, I thought you might like to go buy a new bathing suit and maybe a new outfit…." Sharon said.

"Yeah, sure!" Maddie said smiling.

In the car, Sharon could tell Maddie was a little uneasy byher constant fidgeting. Maddie was pleased 0when Sharon suggested they listen to some music on her iPod. As much as Maddie listened to it, Sharon thought it would be a good idea if she knew exactly what kind of music was on it and that it was appropriate for Maddie to have.

They had spent a great deal of time in the department store shopping for just the right bathing suit. Sharon had noticed Maddie eyeing a tie-dyed two-piece, but instead Maddie picked a solid black regular old bathing suit.

"What about this one?" Sharon said looking at the one she knew Maddie really like.

"It's a two piece." Maddie said.

"Let's see," Sharon said holding it up to Maddie, "It's not to reveling for someone your age. I think it would be suitable, if you want it instead of the black one."

"Really, I didn't think you would like it." Maddie said putting the other suit back.

"You won't know if you don't ask." Sharon said leaning her shoulder against Maddie's.

With the bathing suit issue settled, Sharon started looking for an outfit for Maddie. As Sharon looked through the skits and dresses, Maddie looked through the jeans. Every time Sharon would hold an outfit up for Maddie to see, Maddie would quickly shake her head no. Once Sharon came to terms with the fact that they were not going to agree on cloths she told Maddie to get whatever outfit she wanted. When they were done, Maddie had a new pair of jeans, a black long-sleeved shirt, and a cute rapture red toggle hooded vest. As they made their way to the checkout, Sharon checked her watch before saying, "Maddie, if we hurry we have just enough time to go get a manicure and a pedicure. How does that sound?"

"OK! Can I have my nails painted any color I want?" Maddie said her voice full of excitement.

"Of course," Sharon said happy to see Maddie was enjoying their afternoon.

As their nails finished drying Sharon could hear Maddie stomach growling. Leaning over towards Maddie, Sharon says, "I guess I should probably feed you soon shouldn't I." On the way, home the picked up Chinese and Maddie picked The Hunger Games for them to watch.

After dinner, Andy had persuaded Sharon and Maddie to take a short walk with him before they watched the movie. He had been cooped up in that apartment for far too long. They had deiced that a walk in the part around the corner from the apartment would be a nice. When they finished the three of them settled in to watch the movie Maddie had picked out.

"That was a pretty good movie." Andy said, looking over to find Maddie fast asleep with her head on Sharon shoulder and Sharon's head resting on top of Maddie's. He got up as quietly as he could, grabbed his iPhone off the kitchen counter, and took a picture of the two of them. He stood there for a moment debating on how he was going to get them both to bed. He thought about leaving them there together, but he worried that Sharon might wake up with a sore back in the morning. He moved back over to the couch and woke her up as quietly as he could.

It took Sharon a second to realize that she had fallen asleep. When she looked down at Maddie sleeping on her shoulder she laid her head back on to the back of the couch.

"You ok?" Andy said watching her.

"I'm more than ok." Sharon said with a wide smile. "I wish I would have taken the time to do something with her before now."

"Well you have plenty of time to make up for it." Andy said squeezing her hand.

"I should wake her up and let her sleep in Rusty's bed tonight. " Sharon said.

"Here let me. Go get the door." Andy said moving over to pick Maddie up.

"Andy, don't you dare. You know what the doctor said." Sharon said in a stern voice.

"She is as light as a feather Sharon, I will be fine." Andy said slipping his arm under Maddie's legs.

He could tell by the look on Sharon face when he put Maddie down into Rusty's bed that he was in trouble. Sharon placed a kiss on Maddie's forehead and walked out of the room.

"Come on, don't be mad at me. There was no reason to wake her up. We both know that she could use a good night's sleep. Sharon, she has been sleeping on that couch almost every night." Andy said as he climbed into bed beside her. He laid there on his side looking at her back for a moment before he put his hand on her hip, making her turn towards him.

"Andy you are going to go crazy being off work for what six weeks. What if you did hurt yourself and now it's eight or oh god heaven forbid twelve weeks." Sharon said fully turning to her side so she could face him.

"Don't be mad at me Sharon." He said as he ran his hand over her arm causing her to shiver. He took her hand and brought it up to his lips. Watching her, he placed a soft kiss on her fingertips.

"Oh no you don't!" She said pulling her hand back from him. "You know there is to be none of that until the doctor sees you Monday."

"I can't even have a kiss goodnight." He said moving his body closer to hers.

"A kiss you can have, but that's it or I will go sleep in Rusty's bed with Maddie." Sharon said frowning at him. "I only want for you to be healthy Andy."

"I know honey." He said placing a kiss on her forehead.


	32. Chapter 32

"Maddie, I have a surprise for you." Sharon said pulling Maddie up from the couch. "We have fixed the issue in your bedroom." Sharon said with a wide smile.

"Aunt Sharon, I don't really like surprises." Maddie said with a very serious look on her face.

"It's a good surprise." Rusty said pushing Maddie as Sharon pulled her hand.

Sharon linked her arm through Maddie's as they walked up the stairs to her new room, with Rusty and Andy following behind them. They stopped at door and Sharon took a deep breath. As she opened the door, Sharon watched Maddie waiting to see her reaction to her new bedroom, but no one expected to see Maddie standing there with tears running down her face. Andy and Rusty looked at each other not knowing what to do. Sharon quickly moved to Maddie trying to console her, but Maddie moved away from her. Maddie walked around the room looking at all of her old things. She even noticed the markings on the white trim around the closet door. She closed her eyes as she ran her hand over each marking. She could see her father and hear his voice as he placed a mark above her head, "Look at how much my little sprout has grown."

Maddie jumped when she felt Sharon's hand on her shoulder. "Maddie, I didn't mean to….I thought that this would make you feel like this was your home too."

Before Sharon could say anything else, Maddie turned quickly and flung her arms around Sharon, almost knocking her over. Sharon wrapped her arms around Maddie holding her as tight as she could.

"T…Thank you," Maddie said looking up at Sharon trying to smile. "I can't believe you did all of this just for me. How did you make it exactly like it was before I left?"

"Grandma took photos of everything before the movers came." Sharon said wiping the tears from Maddie's face.

"Let's leave them alone for a little while." Andy whispered to Rusty.

"It's perfect really." Maddie said in between sniffles.

"I have one more thing for you," Sharon said, walking over to the closet, "but you must promise you are responsible enough for it." Sharon said opening the door. Maddie squealed with joy when she saw what Sharon had hiding in the closet.

"You're the best Aunt Sharon." Maddie said kissing Sharon on the cheek. "Links, I have missed you so much." Maddie said picking up her beautiful white Persian cat. Links jumped on to Maddie's lap and Maddie giggled at the sound of him purring.

"It sounds like he missed you too." Sharon said sitting down on the floor beside Maddie.

Maddie sat there for a few minutes petting Links before she leaned her head on Sharon's shoulder. "I'm sorry I have been such a pain since I came to stay with you. I know that you miss my mom too and you are just doing what she wanted. "

"Sweetheart, I know moving here has been hard for you, but if you give it a chance I think you will like it here. I miss your mom every day that goes by, just like you. Maddie, no matter where your mom and dad are, they love you very much. We all love you very much. I love you very much." Sharon said with a shaky voice.

"I….I love you to Aunt Sharon." Maddie said feeling tears fill her eyes once again.

"There, there," Sharon said holding Maddie as she started to cry again. Sharon wasn't sure how long they had sat like that, but from the aching in her lower back, she knew it had been a while. Sharon started to move she could tell by Maddie's breathing that she had fallen asleep.

After Sharon got Maddie put in to bed and checked on Rusty, she made her way to her bedroom. She leaned against the frame of the bedroom door watching Andy for a moment. As she watched him, a grin danced upon her lips as she realized that it wasn't just her bedroom, this was the bedroom that she would share with Andy. The thought scared her and excited her all at the same time.

Andy had noticed her standing at the door and from the look on her face; he could tell that she was thinking about something. He picked up a pillow and flung it at her.

"Oh you're going to get it now." She said giving him most serious Captain Rayor glare. She crossed the room and climbed on the bed about to hit him with a pillow when he grabbed the pillow she was holding and used it to pull her towards him. Andy groaned when Sharon fell on him a little harder than he had expected.

"Andy, are you ok?" She said pushing herself up off of him, but before she could pull too far away, he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her down onto his chest.

"I couldn't be better." He said as he brushed his lips against hers. Before she could object, he depend the kiss craving every inch of her. His hands traveled up her back as his tongue danced with hers causing her to moan softly. He could feel her hand gripping his tee shirt as his hand intertwined with her long beautiful hair. When they broke apart for air, he ran soft kisses down her jaw to her neck. He knew that the feeling of his lips on her neck drove her crazy and he loved it. He took the opportunity to flip her onto her back so he was now leaning over top of her. They gazed into each other's eye for a moment before he felt her hand on the back of his neck pulling him into another kiss. He felt her entire body shiver as his hand touched the skin under her tee shirt. She knew that she should stop him, but she yearned for his touch as much as he yearned for hers. She sighed as his lips left hers and once again found their way to her neck. She titled her head allowing him full access to her neck as she ran her fingers through his hair. He slowly placed kisses on her collarbone and down to the valley between her breasts. Her body arched aching for the touch of his lips, when suddenly they heard a scream.

Sharon quickly slid out from underneath Andy and they both rushed to Maddie's room. Sharon hurried to the side of Maddie's bed taking the young girl into her arms, as Andy turned the lights on and looked around the room. "It was just a bad dream sweetie," Andy said sitting down on the other side of the bed.

"I'm, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you." Maddie said trying to control her breathing.

"We are right here Maddie, everything is ok." Sharon said placing a kiss on Maddie's head.

"Will you stay with me until I fall back asleep Aunt Sharon?" Maddie said shyly.

"Of course." Sharon said climbing into bed beside Maddie. She offered and apologetic smile to Andy, but she knew from the look in his eyes that he didn't mind sharing her with Maddie tonight.


	33. Chapter 33

Sorry that it has taken me so long to get a new chapter out! Please note, the rating for this chapter is M.

Realizing that Sharon wasn't in bed with him, Andy rolled over and shut the alarm clock off. Running a hand over his face trying to wake himself up, he went to go wake Rusty and Maddie up for school. The sight of Maddie curled up to Sharon put a smile on his face. The two of them looked so peaceful together, he hated that he had to wake them up. Giving Maddie's arm a gentle squeeze he whispers, "It's time to get up Kiddo. Try to get up without waking her. I want to let her sleep in this morning."

Rusty was in the kitchen searching for something for breakfast when Andy and Maddie finally appeared. "We have no food," Rusty groaned.

"I will stop on the way and get you two something," Andy said shaking his head. He wondered if food was all Rusty ever thought about.

"What about our lunch? Sharon always packs us something," Rusty said grabbing his backpack off the counter.

"I will give the two of you money for lunch Rusty, just come down," Andy said grinning at him.

"I don't know what your laughing at Maddie, you have to eat sometime today too." Rusty said pushing her backpack towards her to hurry her along.

"Unlike you Rusty I don't have to eat morning, noon, and night. And every hour in between." Maddie said sticking her tongue out at him.

"Come on you two, I haven't had a cup of coffee yet." Andy said realizing he had not been around kids this early in the morning in a very long time.

On the way back home, Andy stopped to get Sharon a cup of the Chai Tea that she loves so much and a low fat scone. He knew she was always watching her figure, why he wasn't sure because he thought she was pretty damn perfect the way she was. When he got back to the house, he was pleased to find her still asleep on Maddie's bed. Being as easy as he could, he slid into bed beside her. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear as he watched her sleep for a moment. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips before he whispered, "Wake up Sleeping Beauty."

She smiled at the sound of his voice. She  
immediately looked shocked when she didn't see Maddie anywhere. "Andy you let me over sleep. I have to get Rusty and Maddie off to school," she said and he could hear the irritation in her voice.

"I took them to school. You needed to rest," Andy said as he stepped in front of her at the edge of the bed. "I also took the liberty of picking you up tea and a scone."

"They are my responsibility; you didn't need to do that." Sharon said a little surprised that Andy had them up and off to school by himself.

"While I am here and not working, why don't you let me help out with some of those responsibilities," Andy said handing her the cup of tea.

Taking a sip of her tea, she looked at his watch. She figured they would have just enough time to have breakfast together, ready the paper, and shower before they had to leave for Andy's appointment.

"Why don't you get your shower first, that way you have enough time to get ready," Andy said with a devilish smile. She could tell he was up to something, but she wasn't sure exactly what.

Sharon was washing the shampoo out of here hair when she felt cool air hitting her body. As she turned around, Andy was climbing in the shower behind her. "Why Lieutenant Flynn this is completely inappropriate conduct," she said in a deep and sultry voice.

"Why Captain Raydor, I would like to point out that there is nothing inappropriate about trying to conserve on water. Why waste the water for two showers, when we both know that one would be far more enjoyable." Andy said placing a kiss on her shoulder. He took the smile she gave him as permission to continue and so he placed a series of soft kisses across her shoulder until he reached her neck. As he felt her body start to relax, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back towards him. When his lips found hers, she turned in his arms and slide her arms around his neck pulling him closer to her. She allowed their tongues to dance around together before she felt him pushing her back against the shower wall. His hands wondered their way from her waist up to her breast. When she felt his thumbs brush over top her hard nipples she slide her tongue into his mouth causing him to groan. He could feel her smiling against his lips before she pulled away from him only to place soft kisses on his neck and then his chest. As her lips trailed down his chest, he groaned again as her tongue brushed across his nipple. When she felt his hands tighten on her hips she moved to the other nipple swirled her tongue around it and then sucked it into her mouth. When she started to descend downward her phone rang suddenly.

"Don't you dare," he growled.

"I'm sorry, it could be Rusty or Maddie," she said stepping by him.

To Sharon's surprise, she saw DDA Hobbs name flash across the screen. She hesitated briefly before answering the phone. Andy watched her form the shower as her facial expression quickly changed. By the time she put her cell phone down he was out of the shower standing in front of her.

"What's up?" he said offering her a towel for her hair.

"Um…Rusty is scheduled to testify next month and then he can be put back into a regular foster home." She said turning away from him. She took a deep breath and tried to hold herself together, but when she felt his hands on her arms, she allowed herself to turn into him. She cried against his bare chest as he held her tightly.

"He is going to think I betrayed him," She said softly. "I know that he has felt a threatened with everything that has happened. He will allow himself to think that I have pushed the trial through as an attempt to get rid of him. How do I make him see that is the furthers from the truth?"


	34. Chapter 34

"Sharon are you ok?" Rusty said peaking in her bedroom door. "You have been up here all night."

"I'm not feeling well. Would you please lockup for me and make sure Maddie gets to bed? Thank you, Rusty." She said quietly.

Rusty knew that she was lying to him. Normally he would have called her out on it, but not this time. He told her goodnight and shut the door. He could hear the sadness in her voice and he knew that it was best to leave her alone. He knew that something had happened between her and Andy that night, but he wasn't sure what. He thought back to when Andy picked them up from school. He hadn't thought much about it then, but thinking back now Andy did seem a little distant. There was also the fact that he ordered them pizza for dinner and then disappeared upstairs. This wasn't like Andy at all. Over the last few weeks, it starts to feel like they were a real family. Andy would fix a quick breakfast for everyone while Sharon was getting ready for work and then Andy would take Rusty and Maddie to school. This would allow Sharon to get into the office a little earlier, which meant if she didn't catch a case she would be home in time for dinner with them. Andy had been very insistent that they eat dinner together as a family. They all knew that once Andy was released for active duty that everything would change, but until then Andy had really step up to help Sharon and he was very much a father figure Rusty and Maddie. Rusty was just starting to get use to hearing Andy and Maddie cheering him on as if they were at a football game instead of a chess match. Andy would do the same for Maddie. He helped Sharon find a really good swim team for Maddie. He made sure she was at every practice and he even worked with her each night at home.

Later when Sharon knew that Rusty and Maddie would be fast asleep, she made her way down stairs for to the kitchen. She needed something to settle her nerves and she hoped that a nice hot cup of tea would do the trick. She curled up in the oversized chair in the family room using the hot cup of tea to warm her hands. When that wasn't doing the job, she reached over and grabbed the blanket that Andy kept folded by the chair. As she wrapped it around her, she could smell the scent of his aftershave on it. She buried her nose into the blanket and took a deep breath. Letting out a sigh she had wondered how everything went so wrong so fast.

She had started her day out with her last meeting with the attorney that Gavin had referred her to for Rusty's adoption and her divorce. She had not told Andy about the divorce yet. She had been planning to surprise him with it next week once everything had been finalized. She had been so happy all day knowing that everything would be final the following week, but now what did it matter. She closed her eyes trying to fight the tears that she could feel filling her eyes once again, but she wasn't strong enough to fight the urge any longer. She leaned back and replayed the events in her mind again.

When she came home from work, she was surprised to find Rusty and Maddie eating dinner without Andy. When she asked where Andy was they both said he had been upstairs since he ordered the pizza. She immediately became worried that something might be wrong with him. He had been recovering so well, but there were times when she felt he was pushing too hard.

When she opened their bedroom door, she found Andy sitting in the chair by the window with all of the lights off. She felt her body tense up as soon as she saw him; she knew that something wasn't right. Speaking as softly as she could, she asked him if he was feeling ok, but he didn't answer her. She slowly walked over to the other side of the bed and sat down across from him. She waited a minute hoping that he would say something. When he didn't she said softly, "Andy, what's wrong you're starting to worry me."

Andy sat there for a moment and watched her. He had been thinking all day about all of the things he wanted to say to her, but now that she was there, he couldn't seem to think straight. After a few moments, he finally pulled his thoughts together.

"You're a hypocrite, do you know that? You have the never to lecture me about honesty and how we have nothing if we don't have honesty. "Andy said with his voice heavy with anger.

"Andy, what are you talking about," Sharon said completely clueless.

"THIS!" he said tossing a crumbled piece of paper at her.

She moved to turn the on bedside lamp so she could see what was on the paper that had him so upset. When she saw the writing on the front of it, her heart immediately sank. She didn't know how Andy would have gotten ahold of this letter, but she recognized the handwriting as soon she saw it. Andy could see her hand trembling as she brought it up to cover her mouth.

"How could you have lied to me about this? Did you think no one would ever find out? I guess now you know why she has been so impossible lately. How could you be so cold hearted?" Andy said, but this time his voice was much softer. Sharon's could hear the hurt in his voice and it killed her to know that she was the reason for it.


	35. Chapter 35

Sharon had done nothing but toss and turn all night long thinking about the things that she had said to Andy. Normally she was well known for keeping a level head, but the things Andy said to her cut through her like a knife. She had expected him to want to know how she could ever give such a precious gift away, but when he asked her if she even knew who Maddie's father was her body filled with anger, rage, and most of all hurt. At that point, she stopped trying to explain the situation and she started lashing out at him.

She wasn't even thinking about what she was saying as the words just flew out of her mouth, but once they were out there, there was no taking them back. Closing her eyes she could see the look of shock and hurt that flashed a crossed his face when she comment on his own children. She couldn't even fathom how she could be so cruel. She looked over at the chair that he had been sitting in and wished that she could turn back time. She wanted to get in the car, drive over to his apartment, and apologize for saying that he was no better than she was when he picked a bottle of booze over his own children. Instead, she turned on the lamp by her bed and picked up the little black box he had thrown at her and the letter to Maddie.

When she looked at the writing earlier that night she recognized it as her sisters the moment she saw it. Running her hand over Maddie's name on the outside of the letter, she wondered what her sister had told Maddie in the letter. She swallowed trying to force the lump out of her throat before she started reading.

My Dearest Madison,

If you are reading this letter then your father and I must no longer be with you. This is a letter no parent ever wants their child to read, but it's a letter that is necessary for you to understand why we made the decisions that we did. Before you read on, I want you to know that your father and I love you more than anything in the world. The day we brought you home was the happiest day of our lives and every day since has been a gift.

I know that I don't have to tell you how much you meant to your father. He made sure you knew every day that you were the light of his life, the apple of his eye. I have never seen a man have as much love for his child as your father has for you.

My concern is that you never knew that I loved you just as much as he did. I know I didn't express it the same ways that your father did, but Madison please know that you were the answer to my prayers. No mother could have asked for a more beautiful, kind, loving, and smart child.

If I know you as well as I think I do, you're probably wondering why you are not living with Grandma and Grandpa. It was my choice to have you live with your Aunt Sharon. Today you may not feel that it was the right choice, but you will one day when you are a little older.

Your father and I tried for years to have a child, but we were always unsuccessful. We had considered adopting, but because of reason out of our hands, it was not possible unless we adopted privately. What I'm trying to tell you Madison is that I am not your biological mother. I realize that this isn't something that I should have put in a note for you to read once I was gone, but I couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth before. The trust is Madison; Sharon is your biological mother. She knew how much I wanted a baby and I could never thank her enough for giving me such a wonderful gift.

I know that it will be hard for the two of you once you have read this letter, but once the two of you are able to move forward you will see that no one could love you more. I know that as you started to get a little older she wasn't around all that much, but that was not her fault. If anyone is at fault, it should be me. As you started to grow up you looked more and more like her and it was hard for me to accept the fact that you looked so much like your real mother. I pushed Sharon away in fear that you would question why you looked so much like her and not me.

I made Sharon promise me that she would never tell you that she was your real mother, but when we thought I was sick a few years ago, I realized that there might come a day when she will need to tell you the truth. Knowing Sharon, she would keep her promise to me until the day she dies. That is why I am telling you this. Give her a chance Madison and you will see her love for you is just as strong as the love your father and I have for you.

I will always love you Madison!

Love,

Mommy

Sharon wiped the tears from her cheeks and folder the letter back up. She was angry with her Emily for telling Maddie like this or maybe it was for telling Maddie without letting her know. She wasn't really sure, but it didn't matter now. All Sharon knew is that everything was a complete mess and she had no clue how to fix it.

When her alarm went off a few hours later, she dragged herself out of bed and went to make sure Rusty and Maddie were up. To her surprise, Rusty had gotten up little early and made omelets for the three of them for breakfast. When Maddie went upstairs to grab her backpack Rusty told Sharon that the two of them could take the bus home after school so she didn't have to worry about picking them up. Rusty always seemed to amaze her with how grown up he really was.

As Sharon finished getting ready for work, she looked at the black box sitting on her nightstand. Andy said that he would come today while everyone was gone to pick up his things and leave his key to the house. She put the black box on top of the dresser with a note to Andy that said I'm sorry, the last thing I wanted to do as to hurt you, and then she left to take Rusty and Maddie to school.


	36. Chapter 36

Andy watched the FBI detail pull up in front of Sharon's house as he parked in the driveway. He sat in the car for a moment thinking of how he had been prolonging this task all morning. He had been up all night thinking about what had happened. When he found the note Maddie dropped in the back seat of his car he was completely stunned. He had always thought there was a strong resemblance between Sharon and Maddie, but it wasn't unheard of for aunts and nieces to look alike. After finding out they were mother and daughter it dawned on him, they were a like in so many other ways. He smiled to himself briefly wondering how Maddie could give the same Raydor glare that Sharon gave when they were hardly ever around each other.

It didn't really hit him until he walked into the house that he wouldn't be having dinner with Rusty and Maddie anymore, there would be no more chess matches, or swimming practice. There would be no more holding Sharon in his arms at night. The thought of not having her so close to him every night made is body ache or was it just his heart that was aching… He had half hoped that she would be there waiting for him, wanting to talk it out, work it out. He had hoped for a sign of some kind that would let him know she hadn't really wanted to end it. He didn't blame her for saying that it was over between them, he would have said the same thing if the tables were turned.

When he reached the bedroom door, he stood in the doorway for a moment. He let the last few moments of the fight play out in front of him. When she commented on his children and the booze, he turned away from her so angry he wanted to hit something. Instead, he turned around and said, "I might have picked booze over my kids when I was a drunk, but they always knew that I was their dad. You can't say that ALL of your kids knew who their mother was, why because the church would frown upon you having a child with man that was not your husband."

Running his hand over his tiered face, he knew that there was no point in standing there rehasing the events from the previous night. He moved to the closet and grabbed his clothes and his overnight bag from the bottom shelf. He placed the clothes and the bag on the bed and moved to the dresser to gather the rest of his clothes. He didn't know it when he took the first handful of clothes away, but when he went back for the rest he saw the black box sitting on top of the dresser. He picked up the box and opened it only to find that nothing had been touched. He saw the note and his heart started beating faster as the thought this was it, this was the sign he needed. When he picked up the note and saw one sentence, he knew that he was wrong. He suddenly felt the same hurt and sadness fill his body once again. It was over, really over. He shoved the box in his pocket and crumbled the note up tossing it in the bathroom trash as he grabbed all of his things from the bathroom. Before he headed back down the stairs he took the house key off his key ring and left it on the stand beside the bed.

Sharon looked at her watch and sighed as she walked towards the elevator. It was nearly 7:30, which meant Rusty would have cooked dinner for him and Maddie to eat by themselves. She wondered if maybe she had made a mistake by accepting the transfer to Major Crimes. If she were still in FID she would have been home to cook the two of them dinner.

Driving home, she thought about how she was going to approach the subject with Maddie. She wasn't sure how long Maddie had been holding on to that note or even when she had received it, but she knew that Maddie had known the truth or part of it anyway for a while now. Her sister was not very clear as to the details of the situation, which made Sharon certain that Maddie was under the same impression that Andy was. She had to explain everything to Maddie, but she honestly wasn't sure that she had the strength to do it tonight.

When she got home, Rusty was sitting at the kitchen table on his laptop and Maddie was outside swimming. "She was pretty upset that she had to miss practice tonight. She has been in the pool since she finished her homework. I tried to get her to come in and eat, but she said she had to be ready for her first meet that she has in a few weeks." Rusty said trying to evaluate Sharon.

"What did you cook, it smells good," Sharon said fully aware that Rusty was trying to determine if she was ok or not.

"It's just some lemon baked chicken. No big deal," Rusty said turning back to his computer.

"I think I'm going to go for a swim with Maddie for a little while to try and make up for her practice tonight," Sharon said turning to go upstairs to change.

"Sharon, I know it's really not my business, but is Andy coming back?" Rusty said quietly.

"About that, Andy and I have decided that being involved on a personal level would only jeopardize our careers with the LAPD and so we have come to the conclusion that it would be best of Andy moved back to his apartment before he started back to work. He should be cleared for active duty by next week and therefore we felt no need to prolong the inevitable," She said hoping that he would not push the subject.

"Oh, ok," Rusty said clearly knowing that Sharon was lying to him once again, but he knew this was a subject that he needed to late go.

Maddie saw Sharon in the kitchen before she came out on the patio, but she pretend not to see her.

"How is the water?" Sharon asked dipping her toe in.

"It's fine," Maddie said with no intentions on trying to carry on a conversation with Sharon.

"I'm sorry that you had to miss your practice tonight Maddie," Sharon said as she settled into the warm water.

"Yeah well if Andy were here he would have taken me," Maddie said with no hesitation.

"Yes, he would have," Sharon said calmly. "But he isn't here any longer so you and I will have to find a way to work around your practices."

"Well if I don't place in this first meet it will be because I haven't had enough practice," Maddie said with that edgy tone that drove Sharon crazy.

"Well how about I help you practice now?" Sharon said trying her best to smooth this over with Maddie.

"You have never been to a single one of my practices, how can you help me?" Maddie said purposely wanting Sharon to feel bad.

"Let's start out with a race. Let me see just how fast you are," Sharon said.

"Fine," Maddie said getting into position.

Rusty watched the two of them from inside the house. They swam down and back to their original position with Maddie in the lead the entire time.

"YOU LET ME WIN!" Maddie said the moment Sharon was above the water.

"Maddie, you are a very good swimmer and very fast," Sharon said before dipping her hair back into the water.

"You hesitated on the turn, I watched you do it." Maddie said climbing out of the pool. "Letting me win won't help me."

"Maddie, wait I know some drills you can do for your speed. Come back and I will show you." Sharon said wondering if she would ever do anything right in Maddie's eyes. But Maddie didn't stop, she ignored Sharon as she went into the house. Sharon figured a few laps would help her unwind some before she went in.

After she showered, she headed downstairs to make their lunches for the following day and from the sounds her stomach was making she figured she should eat something before she went to bed. Trying to keep busy, she straighten the kitchen up a little while she was waiting for her dinner to heat up. When the microwaved chimed, she took her plate and headed to the table. The one thing she didn't like about the new kitchen was how bright the lights were. Since she was the only one eating, she went ahead and shut all off the lights except for the one above the stove.

She had been eating for a few moments when she heard someone coming down the stairs. She figured it would be Rusty coming for a snack before bed, but to her surprise, it was Maddie. Maddie stopped dead in her tracks the moment she saw Sharon sitting at the table. "You can come in, I won't bit," Sharon said turning back to her plate. "Rusty said you didn't eat dinner, would you like for me to heat some up for you?"

"I'm not a baby you know, I can fix my own food," Maddie said in a rude tone.

"Alright Maddie, I have put up with the sarcastic comments for almost two weeks now. I know that you are angry with me, but this cannot continue. We have to find a way to work this out." Sharon said with a firm tone. No one spoke while Maddie heated up a piece of chicken. Maddie sat down beside Sharon, but Maddie wouldn't look up from her plate at Sharon.

"I think you and I have some things that we need to discuss," Sharon said watching Maddie as she spoke. "I found the note from Emily Maddie. I know that's why you have been so upset with me over the last few weeks. I'm sorry that you had to find out this way. If I would have known that….." but before Sharon could finish Maddie stood up from the table.

"I know that you want to talk about why you gave me away, but I'm honestly not ready to hear about how much you didn't want me. If you can just figure out a way to get me to and from swimming practice I will be a good little girl and stay out of your way." Maddie didn't give Sharon a chance to respond, she washed her plate off and placed it in the dishwasher before she headed for the stairs.

Sharon sat in silence trying to force down the rest of her dinner, but the harder she tried to shake Maddie's comments away, the more nauseous she became. Finally, she gave in and threw the food away. When she went to get her night close out of the dresser, she noticed that Andy clothes were gone. She quickly scanned the room. When she saw the key by her bed, she couldn't keep the tears at bay any longer. She had hoped that he would have left her a note. She needed something, anything that would give her hope that they would make it through this. When she didn't find anything she knew that it was really over. She climbed into the side of the bed at Andy normally slept on and wrapped her arms around the pillow as she laid there and cried.


	37. Chapter 37

Sharon sank into the oversized chair with a glass of wine, relieved that the week was almost over. She had been running herself ragged all week trying to keep things running smoothly. She ran through her nightly check when she remembered that Rusty had a chess match tomorrow night. Damn it she thought to herself. She had been trying hard all week to make it to one of Maddie's practices before they were over, but every night something would come up and she wouldn't get there unit it was over. The car ride home was the longest amount of time they were around each other over the last few days.

Sharon had come to the conclusion that it would be best not to push the subject with Maddie until she had a little more time to come to terms with the situation. Sharon knew that Maddie was only lashing out at her that night in the kitchen because she was hurt and confused.

"Earth to Sharon," Rusty said waving his hands in front of her.

"Sorry I was deep in thought I guess," Sharon said giving him a weak smile.

"Would you be ok with me staying over at Paul's house tomorrow night? I haven't stayed anywhere in a while and it is a Friday night," Rusty said apprehensively.

"That's fine Rusty. You have been such a big help around here lately, you surly could use a break. Can I ask you something? And I need you to be completely honest with me," Sharon said and from the serious look on her face he knew she really meant it. "I know that you have a chess match tomorrow. Um, well I was wondering if you would mind if I missed this match, just this one time. Maddie's team will be running times tomorrow night to see who will be starting in next weekend's meet and I would like to be there."

"Sharon, you do know you don't always have to come to my chess matches. I'm cool with you switching it up every now and then to go to her stuff too." Rusty said, hoping Sharon would realize he really didn't mind.

"Thank you she said," as she got up to give him a hug goodnight.

The next morning when Sharon got to work Provenza scurried in her office right behind her. "Lieutenant, can I help you with something?" Sharon said as she practically pushed her inside her office and shut the door.

"Um, Captain, I just wanted to let you know that Flynn called me this morning and uh um…." Was all Provenza was able to spit out before she quickly interrupted him.

"Is he alright?" She said anxiously.

"Yes, he's fine. He will be in today to turn in his release papers and I was thinking that maybe you would want to take a long lunch to talk about his workload when he comes back." Provenza said worried about what was going to happen when they saw each other today.

"Has his doctor said he is not ready to return to a full work load?" Sharon asked trying to hide her concern.

"No Ma'am. May I speak freely Captain?" Provenza dreading the conversation he was about to start.

"You mean you have not been speaking freely since my transfer to Major Crimes?" She said eyeing him.

"I just thought that you and Andy might need to talk some things over before he came back on Monday," Provenza said knowing Sharon wouldn't give in so easily.

"We have nothing to discuss Lieutenant. If he is released with not restriction then it will be business as usual, just like before he left on medical leave." Sharon said coolly.

"Except we both know it won't be like it was before he left and you know it. Sharon I didn't want be the one to tell you this, but Flynn is going to ask for a transfer once he is back. Not right away, he doesn't want it to seem obvious to everyone," Provenza said trying not to raise his voice.

"Lieutenant, need I remind you that Lieutenant Flynn is a grown man. If he has decided that Major Crimes no longer suits him, then he is free to request a transfer." Sharon said in a sharp tone. "Now if you have nothing else to discuss, would you please bring me the ballistics for the Truman case? I need to review it before we bring in the suspect for questioning."

Mumbling something under his breath Provenza headed for the door. A good thirty minutes later, he returned with the ballistics report she had request. He quickly handed it over and made his way back to his desk. He knew Andy would be there shortly and he didn't want to be caught in the cross fire between the two of them.

Sharon had been so engrossed in the Truman case, trying to figure out what she was missing that would link their suspect to the crime scene when Andy knocked on her door.

"Lieutenant, how are you feeling?" She said in a very calm tone.

"The doctors said I'm fine and fully capable of returning back to work Captain," Andy said trying to act like everything was just fine. "Here is all of the paperwork needed for my return."

"That's wonderful news Lieutenant. I will sign off on this and turn it in this afternoon. Thank you," Sharon said calmly dismissing him.

"Sharon, can we talk for a moment?" Andy said softly.

"I'm not sure right now is the best place for this Andy," Sharon said with an unsteady voice.

The two of them were oblivious to what was going on in the squad room before Sharon husband busted through the door.

"You bitch! Did you think that I was going to agree to alimony once I found out you had that brat and full access to your sister money. Oh no I don't think so." Samuel Raydor said closing the distance between him and Sharon. He came at her in such a hasty manner that she step back quickly trying to keep space between them, but before he could make it into an arm's length of her, Andy jump between them.

"Back up dirt bag," Andy growled, when suddenly Samuel started throwing punches. He hit Andy in the nose a few times before Sanchez had him pinned against the wall.

"I believe you just assaulted a police officer asshole," Andy said wiping the blood from his nose.

Provenza pulled the blinds in Sharon office and shut the door after Sanchez escorted Mr. Raydor out of Sharon's office.

"Andy sit down, we need to stop the bleeding," Sharon said visibly shank by the ordeal.

Andy allowed her to assess the damage to his nose as he asked her if she was ok.

"I'm fine Andy," She said with a shaky voice.

"You could have fooled me," he said quietly and then it hit him, Samuel had said alimony. Alimony meant a divorce. "Sharon when did you file for a divorce?"

"When I filed the papers for Rusty's adoption," She said turning away from him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He said moving to stand behind her.

"It was meant to be surprise," She said looking out her window.

"Sharon, I'm…I didn't mean to…" Andy couldn't seem to find the right words when Provenza bust into Sharon's office.

"I don't mean to interrupt your little love fest here, but Taylor is on his way down here right now." Provenza huffed.

Sharon looked at her hands trying to figure out what she wanted to say to Andy, but when she turned around he was gone and she saw Taylor charging towards her office.

By the end of the day, Sharon was just exhausted. She checked the time and hastily gathering her things to go pick Maddie up for her practice.

"What are you doing here?" Maddie said arching and eyebrow at Sharon.

"You have practice in twenty minutes don't you?" Sharon replied.

"Yeah, but you're going to miss Rusty's match if you take me to practice." Maddie said.

"I'm not going to Rusty's match tonight. I'm going to watch you." Sharon said peering over at Maddie. "Now let's get going before you're late."

Sharon sat and watching Maddie's entire practice making note of little things that she could go over with Maddie to help increase her speed. Sharon held her breath when Maddie was up to run her time. In order for Maddie to start the at the meet next weekend, she would need to be one of the top three speeds. She let the breath out when the coach told Maddie she moved up to the next round of eliminations. After the last set of eliminations, Maddie ran over to Sharon.

"I made the 2nd fastest time!" Maddie said as Sharon pulled her into a hug. Sharon immediately released Maddie when she felt her tense up.

"Go get changed and we will go out to dinner to celebrate." Sharon said running her hand over her now wet clothes.

"I'm sorry I got you all wet," Maddie said climbing into the car.

"It's perfectly fine," Sharon said smiling at Maddie. "What would you like for dinner? You are the champion tonight, you pick."

"We can have the leftover parmesan chicken from last night," Maddie said looking out the window.

"We are celebrating tonight, no left overs," Sharon said patting Maddie's hand.

"You don't have to be nice to me Aunt Sharon, its ok I get it. Am…Am I allowed to call you Aunt Sharon still?" Maddie said with without looking over at Sharon.

"Maddie, I thought it would be a nice treat to go out to dinner, but we can go home if that is what you really want. I have not been trying to be mean to you this week Maddie. After the other night, I thought it would be best that I gave both of us some space. Tonight was an important night for you and I wanted to be here to share it with you. That is what families do for each other after all. As for what you can call me, that's up to you. If you aren't comfortable calling me Aunt Sharon any longer, you are welcome to call me Sharon." Sharon said trying to watch Maddie out of the corner of her eye as she drove them home.

When they got home, Maddie ran upstairs to show before the chlorine had her to itchy. When she came back down stairs, she looked around the house only to find Sharon fast asleep on the couch. Maddie knew that Sharon was probably really tiered after the long week, so she grabbed Andy's blanket to cover Sharon up. As she tucked Sharon in, she whispered, I'm sorry that I always seem to ruin everything for you Sharon.


	38. Chapter 38

Sharon eyes fluttered briefly, as she pulled the blanket up to her chin not quite ready to wake up yet. With her eyes barely open, she noticed that the blanket she was snuggling to was not the blanket from her bed. Forcing her eyes to focus on her surroundings she realized she was in the family room. From the sounds that her stomach was making she figured she must have fallen asleep before dinner. Her mind quickly drifted to Maddie, Sharon couldn't help but feel bad for falling asleep before she fixed something for the poor child to eat. Looking at her watch she figured she would have enough time to shower and then make a nice breakfast for Maddie to make up for falling asleep the night before.

After her shower, she quickly scanned the contents of the fridge and freezer, only to find sausage and bacon. Realizing she didn't know what Maddie's preference was, she decided to cook both of them with her mother's famous pancakes. Once everything was ready, she rushed up stairs to wake Maddie. All Maddie had to hear was grandma's pancakes and she was up and downstairs in a flash.

"What are you looking for? I put the syrup on the countertop by the stove," Sharon said as she entered the kitchen to find Maddie looking through all of the cabinets.

"Peanut butter! You can't have pancakes without any peanut butter," Maddie said as if the world would come to an end if she didn't find the peanut butter.

"Please tell me you are not going to put peanut butter on those pancakes. It will ruin them." Sharon said walking over to the cabinet by the fridge to find the peanut butter.

"Please tell me you are not going to eat pancakes without it! It will ruin them." Maddie said giggling at the funny faces Sharon was making.

"Maddie that is entirely too much peanut butter. Sometime you remind me so much of Luke." Sharon said watching Maddie spread a godly amount of peanut butter all over her pancake and topping it with an unacceptable amount of syrup. As soon as Sharon saw the immediate change in Maddie's demeanor, she realized she shouldn't have spoken about the similarities between Maddie and her son Luke.

"Luke knows that I'm really his…..You know." Maddie said unable to look up from her pancakes.

"His sister?" Sharon said not taking her eyes off Maddie. "Yes, Luke has always known. He lived with me almost the entire time I was pregnant. He had just graduated from college and was trying to find a job here in L.A.."

"I'm not really hungry anymore." Maddie said getting up to clean her plate off.

"Maddie, please eat your breakfast. I feel just horrible about last night and we can talk about anything you want." Sharon said hoping that they could just one peaceful morning.

"I'm really not hungry. I think I might have put a little too much peanut butter on my pancake. My stomach hurts a little now." Maddie said wishing she would have listen to Sharon when she told her she had put too much on them.

"I see." Sharon said looking up at Maddie over top her teacup.

"I can still sit with you while you eat though. " Maddie said with a weak smile.

"I would like that." Sharon said.

"Do you think that we could talk about it?" Maddie said nervously.

"I will answer any questions you may have." Sharon said feeling a little uncertain of how this was going to end.

"Luke wasn't upset that you were pregnant?" Maddie said in a soft voice.

"Not at all! You know he was one of the first people to hold you. I think he feel in love with you the moment he saw you. He was in the delivery room when you were born. You came a little earlier than we had anticipated. I went into labor in the middle of the night and he insisted he wasn't going to leave my side." Sharon said as Maddie watched her. If Maddie hadn't known better she would have thought that it made Sharon happy talking about when she was born. Maddie couldn't understand why Sharon would be happy if she hadn't wanted her.

"Is that why he always came home for my birthday?" Maddie said starting to wonder if she really wanted to know the answers to her questions.

"I would assume so. I honestly didn't know that he did that." Sharon said knowing that Luke would have kept this from her because he knew how hard it was for her to not be with Maddie.

"Did you hold me?" Maddie said in such a quiet voice that she wasn't sure if Sharon would hear her or not.

"Yes." Sharon said clearing her throat.

"Why…Why didn't you want me?" Maddie asked as she felt the tears start to roll down the side of her face. She tried to quickly whip them away so Sharon wouldn't see, but it was too late. The moment Sharon saw the stream of tears flowing down Maddie's rosy little cheeks she couldn't stop herself from moving over to Maddie.

"I'm so sorry Maddie, things were never supposed to be like this." Sharon said as she knelt down beside Maddie's chair.

"It's fine. It was a dumb question." Maddie said as she stood up moving toward the hallway.

"I would have kept you if I could have Maddie." Sharon blurted out, causing Maddie to stop dead in her tracks.

Maddie turned to Sharon shaking her head, "You were my mother, why could you keep me?"

"You were not mine to keep." Sharon as her voice cracked.

"I don't understand." Maddie said closing her eyes trying her hardest to keep the tears from falling.

"Please come with me and I will explain everything to you." Sharon said putting her arm around Maddie, leading her to the family room. The two of them sat in silence for a moment on the couch as they both tried to regain control over their emotions.

"In the letter, Emily said that they had tried to have a child over their own. The doctors could never pinpoint why Emily couldn't carry a child past the first trimmest. After three miscarriages, Emily couldn't go through the loss again. Greg knew how much she wanted a child and so they had tried to adopt a child. Due to reasons that were out of their control, they had to turn to private adoption. They were giving a list of young women that wanted to put their unborn child up for adoption. They had selected a nice young woman that was only a few months pregnant at the time. They had met with her several times and Emily had the young woman stay with them for a little while, but when the baby was born the young woman couldn't bring herself to sign the adoption papers." Sharon took a deep breath as she continued.

"Emily called me later that night crying. I couldn't do anything but sit on the phone and listen to her cry. She was beside herself and it killed me to see her like that. A few weeks later she called me again….She wanted to ask me for a favor. She asked if I would be willing to carry a child for her. I…I told her I wasn't sure at first. I was 42 at the time. I was worried that I was too old, that if I agreed and something happened it would only make Emily feel worse. Emily called me for several weeks, begging and pleading. I just couldn't tell her no any longer and so I agreed to meet with the doctor Emily found. At first, we had agreed that I would carry Emily and Greg's child, but after two unsuccessful attempts the doctor had suggest using one of my eggs instead. I was reluctant in the beginning, but I wanted Emily to experience the joys of motherhood and so I agreed. A few weeks later we found out I was pregnant. After I had you, I had a hard time letting you go. I couldn't help be wonder if I had made a mistake, but it was too late. Emily made me swear to her that I would never take you from her. She said she would never be able to bare the pain of losing you." As Sharon finished a mix of fear and relief ran through her body.

Maddie sat for a few moments taking it all in before she slid her small hand into one of Sharon's hands. They sat like that for a few minutes before Maddie leaned over and put her head on Sharon's shoulder. Giving Maddie's hand a gentle squeeze Sharon asked her if she was ok.

"I…I think so." Maddie said after a moment. "So you are really my mom and my dad is really my dad. You know how crazy that sounds. That's why you went away and that's why my parents fought so much isn't it?"

"I can't be certain Maddie, but I would assume that it might have created more issue for Emily then she ever realized it would have." Sharon said her voice filled with sadness as she thought about how much her sister struggled with the choices they had made.

"I kind of messed everything up for everyone didn't I?" Maddie said pulling herself away from Sharon. "I was the reason my parents were so unhappy, I was the reason you lost your sister, and I am the reason you lost Andy."

"Madison, none of that is true. Do you hear me? Sometime in order to love someone you have to let them go. You were a gift to all of us, don't you ever think any differently." Sharon said turning to face Maddie.

"I never meant for him to find the letter. I never meant for anyone to see it." Maddie started to become very upset explaining to Sharon how Andy ended up with the letter from Emily. "I thought I left my algebra book at home and I was going through my bag trying to find it. I must have dropped it and not realized it. I'm sorry that he left because of me."

"Andy leaving had nothing to do with you." Sharon said cupping Maddie chin in her hand. "Andy left because of me and only me. "

"Then go to him and tell him you're sorry. Tell him you want him to come home. Remember when he was in the hospital and we promised to always tell the people we love how much we love them? Go tell Andy you love him." Maddie said with pleading eyes.

"I'm afraid it's not that easy Maddie." Sharon said as she whipped one lonely tear off her cheek.


	39. Chapter 39

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, Sharon pulled her hand from under her pillow and fumbling around on the nightstand until her hand finally found the alarm. She groaned as she rolled over to look at the empty side of the bed. She ran her hand over top the space that Andy had occupied not all that long ago. She sighed knowing he was the reason she had tossed and turned all night. She knew that today she would have to face him and she wasn't sure she was ready for it. The thought of seeing him all day caused knots in her stomach.

She was hardly out of the shower when her phone went off. Lt. Provenza showed on caller ID. "Good morning Lieutenant," she said as she answered the phone.

"I didn't wake you did I Captain?" Provenza said in his usual grumpy tone.

"No, I take it we caught an early morning case?" She said wrapping a towel around her head.

"We have a missing UCLA student." He said as he pulled up in front of Andy's place. "I'm picking Flynn up; we are heading to the Saxon residential suites."

"I will be there as soon as I drop the kids off at school. Lieutenant, what makes this a case for Major Crimes?" She asked knowing that he was rolling his eyes at her that very moment.

"The dean called the Mayor. Apparently there was a photograph of the missing girl in her dorm." He said mumbling to Flynn that he was on the phone with Raydor.

"Okay, okay, I will be there as soon as I can." Sharon said rushing to her closet to find something to wear. She checked the time to see if she could possible drop the kids off at school a little early, but she knew that there was no way she could drop them off this early. She let out a sign hating what she was about to do.

She woke Rusty up first. "Sharon, seriously I have like another half an hour before I have to get ready for school." Rusty said as he pulled a pillow over his head thinking that would make her go away.

"Rusty, we were called out on a case for a missing college student. I have to go. I…I'm going to let you and Maddie take the bus to school this morning. You text me when you get on the bus, you text me when you get off the bus. You text me the moment you step foot in that school AND I MEAN IT." She said in a stern voice.

Making her way to Maddie's room, she thought back to Saturday. After their talk, she could see such a difference in Maddie's attitude. She knew that Maddie was still processing all of the new information, but she was civil with Sharon now. Sharon stood that at Maddie door for a moment and realized that last night was the first night that Maddie made a point to come tell her goodnight. Sharon hoped that with each day that passed they would be able to grow just a little closer. She didn't want to replace Emily, but she hoped that Maddie would be able to find a place in her heart for Sharon.

Sharon had to admit she was nervous about leaving the two of them like this, but they were both up and getting ready. She set a reminder on her phone to call them when to make sure they were heading for the bus. She explained again that she needed a text from both of them when they were on the bus, off the bus, and inside the school. She made it very clear that this was a test; if they passed, she might allow them to do it more often.

She flashed her badge at the entrance to the Saxon suites and made her way up to the 3rd floor to where her team was waiting. "What do we have," She said when she walked into the room.

"Missing Kelly Johnson, 19 year old sophomore, her roommate Abby got in around 5:00 am this morning and found this photograph and letter on Kelly's bed." Tao said holding up the evidence back with the photo and letter.

Sharon takes the bag reading the letter out loud, "you're next bitch." She takes a moment to scan the room. There were no signs of a struggle; everything on Kelly's side of the room was meticulous. "We need to pin point the last time anyone saw Kelly. Where is the roommate? I want talk to her. Does Kelly have a boyfriend? If so, I want to talk to him. I want all of the video from their surveillance cameras. I want a list of everyone who swiped into this building in the last 24 hours. I want a list of all students assigned to this house. Run a check on all of them, I don't care what kind of check the college does on them. I want them ran through our systems. I want every student on this floor interview. I want a list of all prints that show up in this room. I know I know it's a dorm room but we need anything we can get. Then get a list of every single student housed on campus. Run all of them through the system as well." She saw Provenza shaking his head, "I know it's a long shot and it's a lot of students, but we all know if the Mayor called this in to Pope we don't have a lot of time before we have everyone breathing down our necks."

She stood for a moment looking at the photograph when Tao came up beside her and said, "What is it Captain?"

"I don't know just yet. Something about this photograph, it's just not right." Sharon said turning it sideways to look at it from another angle.

"I had the same feeling, but I can't seem to put my finger on it." Tao said tilting his head to look at the photograph again.

It was a little after noon when the team finally headed back to the office. They had interview everyone on the floor and had uniforms going through the rest of the door rooms with a list of questions to ask.

"I'm starving damn it." Provenza mumbled as Sykes was putting everything up on the whiteboard. "I'm going to order some food get me your orders." Leaning over towards Andy's desk, in a very low voice, Provenza says, "Go ask your girlfriend what she wants for lunch."

"Why don't you send Sykes, I don't think it's a good idea for me to go in there." Andy said looking over his shoulder at Sharon office.

"I don't know the details and for the love of god I don't want to know them, I don't even care what is going on with you to. Just go in there and ask the woman if she wants some food or not." Provenza said trying his best to seem irritated with Andy. Provenza was glad that Andy had not told him what happened between him and Sharon because he really didn't want to know. The odd thing was Provenza actually did want the two of them to work it out. It had been a long time since Provenza saw Andy truly happy. He knew that it was all because of that woman and those kids. In a way, it was Andy's second chance at having a family. Knowing Sharon and Andy were both too suborn and too proud for their own good he figured it was up to him to push them along and help them see the error of their ways.

"Come in," She said before she even looked up to see who it was. When Andy entered her office, he couldn't help but notice the surprised look on her face. She hadn't said a word to him all morning. He knew that she wasn't doing it on purpose, but it didn't make him feel any better about it.

"Provenza wanted to know if you wanted him to order you something for lunch." Andy said with a shyness Sharon had never seen.

"Is he ordering from the little deli around the corner?" Sharon said coolly.

"Yeah, I think so." Andy said moving all the way into her office.

"Good, then yes, I would like to order something." She said moving to find her purse.

"Did the kids get to school ok this morning?" Andy blurted out without even thinking.

Sharon looked up at him quickly and for a moment he was worried that she might be upset with him for asking. "Yes, I let them take the bus this morning. Please tell Lieutenant Provenza that I will bring him my order in just a moment. " She said trying her best not to make him feel any more uncomfortable then he obviously was.

"Good, umm that's good." He said as he turned and walked out of her office. When he sat down at his desk, he just shook his head wondering how he could sound so dumb. "Really Andy, that's good. Couldn't you think of anything else?" He said to himself as Provenza shot a look in his direction.


	40. Chapter 40

**Thank you all for the comments! I will try to have the next chapter posted soon and I will try to make them a little longer for you too :) **

Andy leaned back in his chair rubbing his eyes. He had been staring at his computer screen for hours going through the activity logs. He looked around the room and then over his shoulder at Sharon's office. It looked like she was still going through the hours of surveillance videos they were given. With Buzz on vacation this week, they were a little shorthanded, but he had to admit Sharon had the eye for going through the surveillance videos. He knew it was getting pretty late, but he hadn't realized that it was already 9:30pm. He immediately thought of Rusty and Maddie, who would have been home alone all night. Sharon needed to get home with the kids, but he knew there was no way that he could tell her that.

"Provenza, come grab some coffee with me," Andy said standing up.

"Have you been gone for so long that you have forgotten where the break room is?" Provenza said in his usually cranky tone.

"And here I was starting to think I missed your grumpy ass, just come with me for coffee would you," Andy said.

"You didn't drag me down here for a cup of horrible coffee, what's up?" Provenza said scrunching his nose from the horrible smell of the coffee.

"I need a favor. I need you to tell Sharon that we have things covered here. She needs to get home to the kids. She hardly even saw them this morning," Andy said watching the door to make sure no one interrupted their conversation.

"Oh no, I don't think so. You want your girlfriend to get home to those kids, you tell her. I'm not getting involved in whatever is going on between the two of you." Provenza said shaking his head.

"I can't tell her to do that," Andy said quietly as he stirred the cream into his coffee.

"What the hell happened between the two of you? Just three weeks ago you were about to pop the question and now the two of you can hardly look at each other." Provenza said as he watched a gloomy Andy play around with his coffee cup.

"It's complicated and I'd rather not talk about it. Will you just do it, please?" Andy growled.

Provenza let out a sigh and walked out of the room. He sat down at his desk for a moment and looked at the clock. He didn't want to be the one to push Raydor out the door, but Andy was right.

"Come in," Sharon said without moving her eyes from her monitor. "What can I do for you Lieutenant?" She said looking over the top of her glasses as he shut her door.

"Um, well Captain, you know we have everything covered here. I understand that you missed Maddie's swimming practice tonight, I'm sure she would like it if you made it home in time to say good night to her and Rusty." Provenza said studying her.

"Lieutenant, while I appreciate the gesture, I also have to take into consideration that we have a missing young woman out there and I am the head of Major Crimes. How would it look if Taylor was to check in and I have already gone home for the night?" Sharon said wondering if he truly carried if she hadn't seen the kids all day or if someone had put him up to this.

"Captain, no one suggested that you would not continue working. You can go through those videos at home just as easily as you can sitting at that desk." Provenza said silently cursing Andy.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt if I review these at home. Thank you, Lieutenant. Please be sure to phone me if anything comes up." Sharon said as she removed her glasses and rubbed the red spot that her glasses let on the bridge of her nose.

Once Sharon was settled into her car, she pulled out her phone to call Gavin and let him know she was on her way home. When she realized she was not going to make it to pick Maddie up, she called Gavin and asked him if he would mind helping her out tonight. Gavin was a little taken back at first that she would turn to him for help with Rusty and Maddie, but he was very happy to help. Gavin had insisted on taken care of dinner for them and said he would stay until she was heading home.

Sharon entered the house through the kitchen door, setting her belongings on the countertop before she headed up to say goodnight to Rusty and Maddie. She tapped softly on Maddie's door before she entered. The room was dark and she was sure that Maddie had already gone to bed, but just as she turned to walk out the door, she heard a quiet voice say, "Sharon".

"Hi, I thought you were asleep." Sharon said moving over to Maddie's bed.

"Not yet, I was just listening to my iPod until you got home. I um…I wanted to say goodnight," Maddie said shyly.

"I'm glad you did, I'm sorry that I was tied up at the office tonight. I wanted very much to see your practice tonight." Sharon said sitting down on the side of Maddie's bed.

"It's no big deal. Your friend Gavin…Oh wait, he told me I had to call him Uncle Gavin." Maddie said giggling. He was really nice when he picked me up. He said you had a pretty important case and he was going to hang out with Rusty and me tonight. He cooked us some weird looking chicken, but it was good. He even picked up these some pastries for us to have for desert. They were really good."

"Gavin is a close friend. He was very excited when I called him tonight. I take it that the three of you had a good time because he offered to sit with the two of you anytime I needed him to. It is late; you need to get to bed now so you are fully rested for school tomorrow." Sharon hesitated for a moment, "Maddie, would it be ok if I gave you a hug goodnight?"

"Um, yeah I guess so," Maddie said softly as she sat up. Maddie was a little surprised at how quickly Sharon leaned in to hug her. She felt a little awkward still with Sharon, but she knew Sharon enough to know that if she was asking for a hug that she must have had a pretty hard day.

"Thank you, Maddie." Sharon whispered as she placed a kiss on the side of Maddie's head. As Sharon shut the door, she leaned back against it closing her eyes taking a brief moment for herself. When she opened her eyes, she was startled to find Rusty standing in front of her.

"Long day?" Rusty said noticing how tiered she looked.

"Very long day," Sharon said putting her hand on his back to lead him away from Maddie's door.

"I take it you didn't find the missing girl?" Rusty said knowing how much it bothered Sharon when young people were the victims.

"No," Sharon said with a sadness in her voice that she hoped Rusty hadn't noticed. "Come tell me about your day, while I pack our lunches for tomorrow."

"Sorry, I can't do that." Rusty said as a little smile crept upon his lips. "Little Captain Raydor made all of our lunches before she went to bed. She said that we should try to help out since you had to work late."

Rusty's comment made Sharon stopped suddenly and when Rusty noticed the change in Sharon he quickly added, "That kid is so much like you it's a little scary. She likes to follow the rules just like you, but man did she have Gavin and me cracking up tonight."

Sharon knew that she needed to have a talk with Rusty about Maddie and she was afraid that if she kept putting it off like she had done with Andy, that it could possible blow up in her face. She took a deep breath and decided that was a discussion for another night. She didn't have enough strength to have this conversation with him tonight.

"Why don't you just sit with me for a moment and tell me about your day then? It sounds like you guys had a good time with Gavin it night." Sharon said looking over at him.

The two of them sat and talked for a few minutes as Sharon enjoyed Rusty's company before she had to get back to watching the surveillance videos. When Rusty got up to go upstairs to bed, he stopped beside Sharon and quickly kissed her on the top of the head. "Try not to work to late tonight," he said and then he turned quickly and went to bed.

For the next few hours, Sharon sat in front of her laptop in the den going through video after video. Checking her watch, she stretched before deciding it was time to get some sleep. She knew that she was getting to the point that she was not able to stay focused and was worried that if she continued she might miss something important.

Sliding into bed, she sighed knowing that this would be the second night in a row that she would only end up with a few hours of sleep before morning. Closing her eyes, she pulled the blanket up to her chin and slowly started to drift off to sleep when her phone suddenly went off. When she saw Lt. Flynn displayed across her phone a sudden way of panic ran through her entire body. She couldn't think of any good reason why he would be calling her this late at night.

"Captain Raydor," She said trying to keep her voice level.

"Captain, I think we found the lead that we needed." Andy said the moment she answered. "A student by the name of Brent Robertson had been on the activity log twice in the last 24 hours before Kelly went missing." Andy said with an excitement that Sharon hadn't heard in a while.

"What is the connection between Mr. Robertson and our victim?" Sharon said curiously.

"Well Captain, Brent Robertson graduated three years ago. Which means his student ID card shouldn't even be active. I have already left a message for Ms. Rosin in the admissions office. I asked for her to send me over all of the information she had for Brent along with a photo ID. I took the liberty of tracking down his current address and once I have his student ID I will go pick him up for questioning." Andy said.

"That's very good work Lieutenant! Now, please go home and get some rest." Sharon said concerned that Andy was going to overdo it his first week back.

"Were you asleep?" Andy said in a low voice that caused Sharon to shiver.

"No, I had just climbed into bed," She said wishing that she were not lying there alone.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to call you so late. Provenza said to call you if we found anything, so I did." Andy said trying to make conversation just to hear her voice for a few more minutes.

"Its fine Lieutenant, you're correct I did ask to be notified the moment any new information came in. Now please go home and get some sleep." She said wishing she could turn back time and make everything right between the two of them.

"Sharon," Andy said licking his suddenly dry lips.

"Yes," Sharon said in a much lower voice than she had intended to.

**"**Um, goodnight." Andy said and then he quickly hung the phone up.

Looking at the screen of her iPhone she whispered, "Goodnight Andy".


	41. Chapter 41

I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to update... Things have been a little crazy. This chapter is for Pearlphin... Thanks for the suggestions!

"Where the hell is Raydor? Taylor is on his way down here for an update and I am not going to be the one to tell him we have diddly squat." Provenza growled.

"Sir, I passed her as she was going into the restroom." Sanchez said looking up from the paperwork on his desk.

"Have Sykes go in there and get her, will you?" Provenza said looking around the room, "Where on earth is Sykes?"

"Sir, you sent her out with Flynn to pick up Abby, Kelly's roommate." Sanchez said quickly.

"FINE! When Taylor gets down here stall for as long as you can, I will go get her myself." Provenza growled as he got up from his chair.

Knock, knock… "Captain, are you in there?" Provenza said looking around as he stood outside of the women's restroom. When she didn't answer him he cracked the door open just a little and repeated "Captain, are you in there?", but again no one responded. Then just before the door shut, he heard something. He stood there with the door cracked just a little when he realized what he had heard was someone getting sick. He stood there for a moment before he spoke again, "Captain, are you alright? Do you want me to go get someone for you?"

"NO, NO that is not necessary. Please give me a moment and I will be out." She said with a hoarse voice.

Provenza stood awkwardly at the door waiting for what seemed like forever before Sharon finally made her way out of the restroom.

"Lieutenant, what was so important that you had to hunt me down?" Sharon said a little softer than normal. The two of them stood there for a moment as he looked over her. Provenza quickly noted how pail she looked.

"Taylor is on his way down. He needs an update…." But before Provenza could say anything else Sharon covered her mouth and ran back into the restroom. He stood there thinking that this was the worst time for her to have the flu, then it hit him….She didn't have the flu. He let out a sigh and did the one thing he never thought he would be doing. He opened the door and went into the women's restroom. He pulled some paper towels from the dispenser and started running hot water. Just as he shut the water off, the door opened to the stall in which Sharon had been in.

"What on earth are you doing in here Lieutenant?" She said with shaky voice.

"Here take these," he said handing her the wet paper towels.

"Thank you, you didn't have to come in here." She said feeling a little embarrassed.

"Is this why the two of you are fighting?" He said softly.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant I'm not sure that I follow." She said with a confused look.

"Liz had morning sickness with all of our children. I remember that look all too well. I know that this isn't exactly what the two of you had planned at this point in your life, but I can't believe that Flynn walk away from you over it." he said leaning back on the sink as she used the paper towels to whip her face.

Sharon stood looking at him in disbelief. Of all people to have uncovered her little secret, it had to be Louie Provenza. She took a deep breath and hoped for the best…..

"Lieutenant, this has nothing to do with what has happened between Andy and me. I need you to promise me that you are not going to say anything to him about this." She said looking at him with pleading eyes.

"You haven't told him? For the love of God, please tell me this is a joke. You can't seriously think that I am not going to tell my best friend that he is about to become a father again. How could you even ask me to keep this from him? You know, this is exactly why I didn't want the two of you shacking up. I knew that you would break his heart." He said before he turned to leave.

"Please wait, just here me out. If he asked you to tell me to go home last night how do you think he will act once he knows? If he finds out about this now, he will not focus on this case. This baby and I aren't going anywhere. Don't you think that this missing girl is a little more important? Please, just until this case is over and I will tell him everything." She said walking over to him.

"How long have you known?" he said still unable to believe he is having this conversation with Captain Raydor.

"A few days after he moved out." She said looking down at her hands.

"I can't lie to him." He growled.

"I am not asking you to. If he asks if I'm carrying his child, by all means tell him the truth. Somehow I don't think the subject will come up if you don't mention it." She said offering a weak smile.

"Fine but you have to promise me that you will get out of here tonight at a reasonable hour. You need to rest and I better not find out your skipping any lunches." Provenza said as he started to storm off, but he stopped quickly when he felt the warmth from Sharon's hand on his arm.

"Thank you, Louie." She said before putting her glasses back on.

After the interview with Abby, Sharon stood at the white board looking at the photo of Kelly. She couldn't put her finger on what was bothering her, but something about the interview with Abby just didn't feel right.

"She is hiding something isn't she?" Andy said as she stood beside Sharon looking at the photo.

Sharon has been so engrossed in thought that she hadn't even noticed that Andy had walked up beside her. Twirling her glasses in her hand, she nodded. "When we interviewed Kelly's professors did any of them rub you the wrong way?"

"Now that you mention it, Professor Kennedy did. Why do you ask?" Andy said rising and eyebrow.

"He seemed nervous. I thought that it was because of the situation, but I'm wondering if there is more to it than what meets the eye." She said turning towards him, "I think we need to bring him in. Can you call the University to see where we could find him this afternoon?"

"Lieutenant Flynn, you should call Ms. Roslin. She was obviously flirting with you yesterday, you could use that to your

advantage." Sanchez said leaning back in his chair with a wide smile on his face.

"Uhh she was not," Andy said quickly.

"Okay, Sir, whatever you say," Sanchez said with a chuckle.

"Captain, since you and Flynn seem to be on the same wave link about this guy, why don't you two bring him in?" Provenza said

noticing that she was not pleased with the comment Sanchez made about Andy.

"I'm sure Lieutenant Flynn and Detective Sanchez can handle it Lieutenant," Sharon said coolly heading back to her office.

"Captain, if you and Flynn are on to something the ride over there would be a good time to talk it over before you pick up the

Professor." Provenza said as he stood just inside her office door.

"I'm sure that is the only reason you're suggesting it Lieutenant." She said looking up at him over the top of her glasses. "Never

the less, you're correct. It would probably be good to bounce a few ideas around."

"You're up." Provenza said smiling as he sat down at his desk.

"What?" Andy said a little confused.

"The Captain is going to go with you to pick up the Professor. This is your chance to talk with her. Try not to screw it up!"

Provenza said amused at Andy's confusion.

"Are you ready Lieutenant Flynn?" Sharon said walking up to his desk.

"Um, yeah Captain." Andy said as giving Provenza a dirty look.

As they walked towards Andy's car he hurried around her to open the door for her, but instead of opening it he quickly turned

around to face her. He stood in front of her for a moment before he spoke, "I wasn't flirting with her. I'm not saying that

she didn't flirt with me a little, but I didn't flirt with her Sharon."

"Lieutenant it's not any of my business whom you flirt with or don't flirt with for that matter." Sharon said in a clam Captain

Raydor voice, but his comment left her feeling anything but calm. She felt the sudden surge of hope and fear run through her

body leaving her feeling sick. She wanted to open the car door to put space between them, but when his eyes meet hers, she couldn't seem to move. When he took a step towards her, her heart started beating faster. For a moment she wasn't even sure she was breathing. When they heard the ding from the elevator, they both step back from each other. Andy sighed and stepped pasted her, making his way around the car.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two of them as the car pulled out of the paring garage. Both of them were hoping

that the other one would say something, but neither one was willing to put themselves out there for possible rejections. Just as Sharon was starting to feel silly for feeling that there might be hope for the two of them, she noticed that Andy was pulling over into an empty parking lot.

"What are we doing here? Are you ok? Is something wrong?" She said her voice full of concern.

"I know that this is completely unprofessional, but I can't do this Sharon. We have to talk." Andy said putting the car in park. "I

know I was a stupid bastard. I hurt you and there isn't a damn thing I can do to take it back. I need you Sharon. I….I love you. I

can't keep walking around as if nothing is going on. If you don't have feelings for me anymore that's fine, I understand. I was

such an ass, but the thing is…. I don't know that I can stay in Major Crimes. We are too close. It's too hard on both of us."

Sharon sat silently with her hands in her lap. She knew what she wanted to say to him, but she wasn't sure that she could say it without falling apart. She jumped slightly when he reached over and took her hand in his. When she finally looked up at him he whispered, "What do you want Sharon? Do you want to work this out or do you want me to put in for a transfer? I will do whatever you want."


	42. Chapter 42

"Andy I don't want you to put in for a transfer." Sharon said before she looked away from him. She didn't understand why this was so hard. He wanted to work things out, she should be ecstatic.

"Hey, hey no tears..." Andy said after he felt a few drops hit his hand that was still holding hers tightly.

She took a deep breath as she whipped the tears away and did what she knew she had to do. "I would like for you to stay in Major Crimes, I really would. You're a very important member in this division. I honestly don't know if the team would function properly without you. I know I wouldn't. As for you and I, I agree we need to talk. I just need a little time. Can you do that, can you give me a little time? We have a lot to talk over and I would rather do it when we have the time to properly address everything."

"Okayyy…. I know that this case is important to you, promise me we will talk once I have found you that missing girl?" Andy said trying to lighten the situation.

"I promise Andy, thank you for being so understanding." Sharon said hoping that Andy would be satisfied with her response until she figured out how she was going to tell him about the baby. She wanted to believe that he would be happy about it; they would get married, and become one big happy family. However, she couldn't help to think back to the night he left. She could understand him being upset with her for not sharing with him that Maddie was her biological daughter, but she never would have thought he would be upset enough to walk out on her. She was so lost in thought; she had not noticed that she had placed her hand on her stomach. She let out a sigh as she quickly moved her hand back to her lap.

Andy could tell that he had made her uncomfortable. He knew that this wasn't really the time to bring out their personal relationship, but it was the first time he had really been alone with her since their fight and he honestly wasn't sure, when he would be alone with her again. Trying to break the ice he said, "What are your thoughts on the professor?"

"The professor? Oh, yes the professor. When we talked with him before he commented that he had been worried that Kelly was too nice for her own good. I didn't think much of it at the time." Sharon said and before she knew it, Andy was finishing her sentence.

"That is EXACTLY what Abby said this morning." Andy said shaking his head. He wasn't sure how Sharon seemed to remember all of the little details that she did, but it always paid off.

"It got me thinking back to my freshman year in college. There was a professor that was sexually involved with multiple female students. What if we have a similar situation here, except what if something went wrong, and now Kelly is paying the price?" She let out a sigh and prayed that they would find Kelly in time.

When they arrived at the University, they quickly made their way to Professor Kennedy's office, as they had been informed that he was currently holding open office hours. It just so happens when they had arrived it seemed that he was clearing out his desk.

"Going somewhere Professor?" Andy asked as he quickly scanned the office.

"Um, no I was just looking for some papers." Professor Kennedy said nervously.

"Jonathan Kennedy, would you please accompany us downtown? We have some additional questions for you about Kelly." Sharon said as she approaching his desk.

"I'm not involved. You don't understand how crazy she is." Professor Kennedy said as he started to panic. He started pacing behind his desk mumbling to himself and then out of nowhere he ran full force around the desk straight towards Sharon. Before she had time to react, Kennedy flung her directly in to Andy. Sharon clung to Andy's arms as the two of them descended towards the floor. Andy let out a load groan as his back hit the hardwood floor.

"Are you alright?" Sharon said trying to climb off Andy as quickly and as easily as she could.

"I'm ok." Andy said trying to catch the breath that had just been knocked out of him.

Sharon kicked off her shoes as she unlatched her gun holster. She knew that the Professor could be anywhere on the grounds by now, so she ran straight to the front desk. "There is only one set of gates in and out of here isn't there?" She asked Ms. Roslin as she tried to catch her breath.

"Yes, what's happened?" Ms. Roslin asked taking a step back from the desk.

"I need the gates locked down immediately. No one can leave the grounds." Sharon said searching for her phone when she felt a warm hand press against the center of her back.

"I got it." Andy said handing her the cell phone.

As she called Provenza, Andy had Ms. Roslin show him to the security room that contained all of security monitors. He sat watching all of the monitors until the rest of the team and a handful of uniforms pulled up to the front gate. Since the University had gone into lockdown, the moment the gates were locked it made the hunt for the professor a little easier. Two hours had passed when they found him hiding in a crawl space under the auditorium stage. Sanchez took him from the uniform that found him and "gently" placed him in the back of the cruiser.

As the team headed back downtown, Sharon frantically started searching through her purse for her cell phone again when she saw that it was nearly 3:00 pm. It wasn't until then that she had remembered Rusty needed to work on a project after school and she was supposed to pick Maddie up. Realizing that she had several missed calls and text from Rusty, she couldn't help but feel guilty for not taking care of her parental responsibilities.

The last text she had received from Rusty said: Take it your busy…. Maddie and I are taking the bus to the station. I will have her sit with Mel at the front desk until you get back. Zack's mom will drop me off at home when we are done.

When she left out the breath that she had been holding in, Andy looked over at her. "Everything ok?"

"Rusty left Maddie at the station. He had a project to work on after school today. How could I have forgotten something like this?" She said shaking her head in frustration.

"Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that we were looking for a suspect that could have hurt you today." Andy said as his hand made its way over to hers. "When I saw him round that desk it scared the hell out of me Sharon."

"Me too, me too." She whispered as she held she hand tightly.

When they got back to the station, Andy headed up to get everything ready for the Professors interrogation and Sharon hurried to the front desk to get Maddie.

"Thank you, Mel. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you keeping an eye on her for me." Sharon said motioning for Maddie to follow her.

"Maddie, I'm sorry, I'm going to need you to work on your homework in my office. We have a suspect that I must interview immediately." Sharon said as they stepped onto the elevator.

"It's ok. I understand." Maddie said knowing that it must be something pretty important.

Sharon hurried into her office to put her purse in her desk and get Maddie settled. "If you get hungry or need a drink you can get money out of my purse. You go straight to the break room and back!" Sharon turned to walk out the door when she quickly turned back towards Maddie, "I don't know how long this is going to take. I will have Lieutenant Provenza check with Liz to see if she could take you to your practice tonight."

"Don't worry about it. I texted Coach and told him that I wasn't going to be able to make it tonight." Maddie said pulling her iPad out of her backpack.

"I'm sorry that you had to do that. I know how much it means to you." Sharon said in that soft motherly tone that she had. She took a deep breath hoping that Maddie understood how bad she felt about the entire situation.

"It's ok, he was cool about it. He is said he would stay over a little late tomorrow to work with me, Maddie said smiling, don't you have a bad guy waiting on you?"

"Yes I do!" Sharon said walking over to place a soft kiss on top of Maddie's head before she headed off to the interview room.

"We are ready to go Captain." Buzz said as she passed by the electronics room.

She nodded to Buzz and continued down the hall. Standing outside the interview room, she took a deep breath and straightened her skit before she turned the knob.

Sharon and Andy took turns asking the Professor questions, but he just kept talking in circles. He had admitted that he had been intimately involved with Kelly, but that was the only solid information they could get out of him. After a little over an hour with the Professor, Andy's frustrations with him were starting to show and Sharon had to admit she was starting to get sick of the nonsense too. "Professor Kennedy, can I get you something to drink?" Sharon said kindly.

As Andy shut the door behind him, they both let out a sigh. "Maybe you should let Sanchez and I have a go at him." Andy said leaning back against the door.

"As appealing as that is, I'm not sure it's the best solution. I want to talk to him by myself." Sharon said looking up at Andy.

"Captain, I'm not sure I like the idea of that. This guy is clearly unstable. After the way he took off after you in his office, I can't say that I'm comfortable letting you go back in there by yourself." Andy said and Sharon could tell by the look on his face that he was serious.

"He will feel more relaxed and I think I can get him to open up to me. If he tries anything you will be just a few seconds away." She said smiling softly.

Andy shock his head still uncomfortable with the idea, but he knew that once she put her mind to something there was no stopping her. He looked around to make sure that they were alone before he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. She put her hands on his chest to push him away, but instead she ran her left hand up his shoulder and around his neck, pulling him closer to her. As the kiss deepened, he ran his fingers through her hair trying to hold her to his lips for as long as he could, when a noise at the end of the hall startled both of them. As Andy took a step back he said, "I'm only a second away."


	43. Chapter 43

Thank you all for the comments! I have made this chapter a little long just for you! I hope you enjoy it. And for adama-roslinlove, I gave you the a little Sharon/Maddie moment :)

"Andy wait!" Sharon almost yelled. "I can't believe I forgot about her. Would you check on her and get her something to eat?"

"What?" Andy said as he jogged back to her.

"Maddie….She still in my office. The poor things must hate me right about now." Sharon said leaning her head back against the door.

"Oh, yeah sure." Andy said with a smile. He had to admit he really missed the Rusty and Maddie. His time with them made him realize what he missed when his own children were growing up. He had grown to enjoy the little family that he and Sharon had, even if they really weren't his own kids. It's not the Maddie was his favorite, but he had to admit there was a connection between the two of them right away. At first he thought that it was just because he wanted to get along with Maddie for Sharon, but looking back at it he couldn't help but wonder if he got along with her so well because she was so much like Sharon.

"Hey Kiddo!" Andy said tapping on Sharon's office door.

"Uhhhh Lieutenant Flynn… She's not in here. She should be in one of the integration rooms." Maddie said focusing on her iPad.

"Lieutenant Flynn? What happened to you calling me Andy? And I know where your… I know where Sharon is. She asked me to check in on you. Said something about getting you something to eat, you hungry?" Andy said with a chuckle.

"I wasn't sure if it was okay for me to call you Andy anymore." Maddie said as with a sadness in her tone that tugged at Andy's heart.

"You can always call me Andy, Kiddo! What about some food?" Andy said as he turned one of Sharon's chairs around to face Maddie.

"It's okay; I had a bag of chips and a soda a little while ago. I can wait for Sharon. You don't have to do this." Maddie said as she turned away from Andy in the chair she was sitting in.

"Don't have to do what? Make sure you eat. It's all part of the job." Andy said flashing her a smile.

"You don't have to pretend to be nice to me. " Maddie snapped.

"You're upset with me. I was pretty dumb wasn't I?" Andy said leaning forward resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands.

"I don't understand why you did that to her. I told you I wanted to go back home. Why didn't you just talk her into letting me go? No, you acted like you wanted me there until you found out…. Until you found out I was her kid." Maddie said looking Andy directly in the eye.

Andy sat up straight and looked at her for a moment. He thought to himself, if looks could kill, I would be dead right about now…. "What happened between the two of us had nothing to do with you Maddie. I'm sure Sharon has already told you that." Andy said hoping the situation didn't blow up in his face.

"So what you're telling me is you leaving had nothing to do with the note you found in your car." Maddie said standing up in front of him with her hands on her hips. For a moment, Andy saw a 12 year old Sharon standing in front of him.

"It wasn't because of what the note said, it was because of what the note meant." Andy said rubbing a hand over his face.

"Seriously? Isn't that the same thing?" Maddie said wondering if he was trying to confuse her on purpose. What confused her even more was when Andy stood up and walked right past her out of Sharon's office and sat down at his desk. She stood at the doorway watching him as he unlocked the top drawer of his desk.

"Get out here will you!" Andy yelled to her from his desk. "Maddie when I read that note it explained everything. Why you look like a mini Sharon, how you could make the same faces she does even though you haven't grown up around her, your natural instinct to follow the rules, your personality is just a very young version of Sharon. I understood little things that she had said here in there about you. Why she was so worried that you wouldn't want to stay with her and that you wouldn't like her."

Maddie didn't know what to say she just stood at the side of his desk and stared at him. She suddenly felt horrible for the way she treated Sharon and for being so mad at Andy. When he held his hand out with the little black box, she was pretty sure her jaw hit his desk.

"I was hurt. I felt as if she betrayed me. How could I ask her to marry me if she couldn't share something so important with me? I felt like a fool and the more I thought about it that day the angrier I became. I screwed things up pretty good didn't I?" Andy said not sure how to take the shocked look on Maddie face.

Opening the box Maddie looks at the ring. "Andy it's beautiful. She is going to love it!"

With a sadness Maddie had never heard before Andy said, "I'm not so sure about that Kiddo. I think I blew any chance I had of making her Mrs. Flynn."

Putting the box back in his hand Maddie flashed a big smile at Andy, "Don't be so sure of that Andy! She still loves you."

Shaking his head as he put the box back into his desk and locked it up he said, "I hope your right. I gotta get back in there; I'm going to order some food. I'll grab you when it gets here."

Walking back to electronics Andy was almost knocked over by Sanchez and Sykes, "What the hell is going on?"

"Checking on a lead for the Captain," Sykes yelled back after they passed Andy.

"Looks like you two were on to something. He was shacking up with Kelly and the roommate and guess who is our Professors stepbrother…. None other than one Brent Robertson. That little weasel there is afraid of what was her name, Abby. He asked the Captain to hold him here until we find her. Sykes and Sanchez are off to see if they can locate Abby." Provenza explained as he sat back in the chair with his hands locked behind his head. "Did you get the kid some food? Not sure when the Captain ate last, she could probably go for some to." Provenza added as he watched Andy out of the corner of his eye.

"Pizza, I ordered some pizza for all of us." Andy said not taking his eyes off the monitor. It wasn't until about 10 minutes later that Andy's phone went rang. The pizza guy was in the lobby waiting for him.

When Andy and Maddie entered the squad room with the pizza Sharon was jotting down a few new points on the white board. She kindly asked Tao to take the Professor in a few slices of pizza and a bottle of water. She thanked Andy for taking care of food for the team, pointed to the pizza, and said to Maddie, "EAT!" When she moved back towards the white board Provenza stepped in front of her and pointed to the pizza and said, "EAT!" Sharon automatically frowned at him. She knew that he was enjoying having this kind of control over her and she absolutely hated it!

"Amy is calling" Tao said putting his phone on speaker.

"We checked with a few of the students on her floor and no one has seen her all day. One of the girls said she sometimes goes to parties just around the corner from the University. We are going to grab a bite to eat and head over there to watch the house. We will call you guys if we see her." Amy said as she headed back to the car with Sanchez.

"Looks like it's time to let the Professor go and call it a night." Provenza said going for another slice of pizza.

"Not exactly, I'm going to use the Johnson Rule to keep him here for the next 24 to 48 hours. The last thing we need is for Abby to get ahold of him and his family hits the city with a law suit." Sharon said following suite and grabbing a second slice of pizza. As she took a rather big bite of the veggie pizza, she couldn't remember when she ate last.

By the time Sharon and Maddie got home, Rusty was strung out on the couch watching TV. Maddie ran upstairs to change so she could get a few laps in before the sun went down and Sharon sat down in the oversized chair to relax for a moment and chat with Rusty.

Once Maddie was out of sight Rusty asked Sharon if they had found the missing girl. He already knew the answer by the look on Sharon's face, but he couldn't help but to ask. Trying to lighten her mood he started answering her normal questions before she even asked them, "School was fine, projects almost done, no practice tomorrow, still staying over at Jacob's house this weekend, and I think that about covers it, doesn't it?"

"Always the funny guy," She said ruffling his hair as she walked past him, "I think I'm going to go take a quick shower. Will you check on her in a few minutes?"

When Sharon came back downstairs after her shower, she smiled as she watched Rusty loading the dishwasher. "I would have taken care of the Rusty."

"It gave me something to do while I was keeping an eye on Maddie," Rusty said sticking his tongue out at Maddie.

"Hello, standing right here…. You act like I'm five. I don't need someone to keep an eye on me while I'm in the pool!" Maddie said toweling off at the back door.

"Thank you for helping out with her. I'm very proud of the way you have stepped into the older brother roll." Sharon said once Maddie was upstairs and in the shower.

"God Sharon, don't go getting all sappy on me!" Rusty said smiling as he turned away from her.

"I wouldn't dream of it." She said giving him a quick hug. "I'm going to go read over some paper work for a little while."

Sharon was just putting her papers on the nightstand when she heard a soft knock on the door, "Come in."

"Are you busy?" Maddie said with that shy tone she only used when she needed to talk about something. Sharon pulled back the covers to the side of the bed Andy use to sleep on and patted the bed. As Maddie climbed in beside her she continued, "I talked to Andy today. Did he tell you?"

Sharon shook her head no, as she waited for Maddie to continue.

"He knows that he messed up. He feels really bad about it." Maddie said as she pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"Oh really," Sharon said as she laid her had back on her pillow.

"Yeah, I think you need total to him about what happened. Maybe he acted the way he did because his feelings were hurt." Maddie quickly looked over at Sharon, "Maybe he thought that you didn't tell him about me because you didn't love him the way he loved you."

Sharon's eyes widened in reaction to Middies' last sentence, "Is that what he told you?"

"Not in those exact words. Just talk to him will you?" Maddie said as she quickly placed a kiss on Sharon's check. "Goodnight."

Sharon watched Maddie as she walked out of her room wondering exactly what Andy had said to Maddie. With a sigh, she turned off her light and within minutes, she feel fast asleep. A few hours later Sharon woke to the sound of the house alarm going off; she sprang out of bed and grabbed her gun. She rushed to Rusty room and hurried him into Maddie room. She told them no matter what happened that they were to stay in Maddie closet. She kissed them both on the top of the head and shut the closet door. As she closed the door to Maddie's bedroom, she peered over the banister to see if she could see any movement downstairs.

With her back to the wall, she crept down the stairs. She checked the family room as she made her way to the front door. The front door was still locked and she didn't see anything or anyone when she looked out the small window by the door. She made her way down the hallway into the dining room. She cleared the dining room and made her way into the kitchen. The kitchen was clear. She swallowed hard as she made her way to the laundry room. She could see the shadow of the open door from the moonlight. She got into position and rounded the corner ready to protect her family. When she didn't see anything she turned on the light to find the window busted out and the door unlocked from there. She quickly shut the door and was heading back to the shut off the alarm when she was scared half to death by a knock on the door, she could see red and blues flashing through the window by the door. She checked through the peephole just to be safe before she opened the door.

She quickly announced to the office that she was a Captain of the LAPD. As two other officers came running up to the door she asked told the first office that her badge and ID were in her purse on the counter in the kitchen. Once they confirmed that she was indeed who she said she was they allowed her to go get Rusty and Maddie as they checked the house again. As the three of them started down the stairs, Andy bust through the front door.

"Is everyone okay? What the hell happened?" he said nearly out of breath as he wrapped his arms around the three of them.

"What are you doing here?" Sharon said as she pulled herself away from the embrace.

"My number is still listed with the alarm company. They called me when you didn't answer your phone. They said they had officers on the way. I put on some clothes as quick as I could and raced over here." He said as he looked over each of them to check for himself that they were all fine.

"Oh, I didn't even think about that." She said in almost a whisper. She sent Rusty and Maddie into the family room as she went with Andy to find out what the officers found.

"Captain Rayor, your gate to the side of the house was wide open. It looks like whoever did this came through there and broke the glass with this rock. Can you think of anyone that would do this kind of thing?"

"No Officer Wells. I can't think of a single person, can you Andy?" She said looking over to Andy. When neither one of them could come up with any names, the office suggest that Sharon take the kids to stay somewhere else for the night. They all knew that the odds of whoever did this coming back were slim to none, but no one wanted to take that chance.

"Why don't you and the kids come stay over and my place?" Andy said once they were away from the officers.

"Thank you, but I'm not sure that is the best idea." Sharon said as she stated to rub her temples.

"You guys come with me or I'm staying here. I'm not leaving the three of you alone again." Andy said pulling her into his arms.


	44. Chapter 44

**Thank you all for the reviews! I wanted to have this chapter up before now, but I kept redoing the second half of it.. Hopefully you all enjoy it!**

Andy woke up early to make Sharon and the kid's breakfast. He hadn't realized how much he missed breakfast with Rusty and Maddie. There were mornings that their bickering drove him crazy, but it also made him feel like he was given a second chance at having family. As he stretched, he could feel the tight mussels in his lower back from having slept on the couch. Sharon argued at first about her and Maddie taking his bed, but Andy told her he wouldn't have it any other way. That left the twin bed in the spare bedroom, which Andy said Rusty should take. Looking at the clock, Andy figured he had enough time to catch a quick shower before he started the omelets, but as he approached the bathroom, he realized that someone was already in it. He knew Sharon probably got up early to shower so they would both have enough time to get ready, but as he stood outside the door, he thought he heard her getting sick. With everything that had happened the night before he figured it was probably just her nerves. Nevertheless, he felt the need to check on her to make sure she was okay.

"You okay Sharon?" he said tapping on the door.

Cringing at the thought of Andy finding her like this she tried to keep her voice steady before she replied, "Yes, I'm fine. Just give me a moment please."

"What are you doing?" Sharon asked watching Andy in the kitchen cooking.

Smiling at her Andy said, "Just making you guys my famous Flynn omelets."

Sharon wasn't sure how her body was going to react to the smell of food so early, so she stood at the entrance to the kitchen as she spoke to him, "Andy you didn't have to do that. Those two would be happy with a bowl of cereal or even some toast. You did enough just letting us stay with you last night. I realize I disputed the idea at first however, I feel it was the best solution for Rusty and Maddie. I honestly don't know that they would have been able to fall back asleep at my house."

Andy thought for a moment before he responded to Sharon." They are going to need a good breakfast this morning to get them up and moving. Are you okay now? I'm sure what happened last night is playing havoc on your nervous and this case isn't really help, is it…"

"Something like that." Sharon figured it wasn't technically a lie. She was on edge after the break in the night before and she was worried about how their case was going to end.

Once breakfast was ready, Andy ran off to shower and Sharon woke Rusty and Maddie. She had to admit the omelets looked delicious, but settled for toast instead. A smile appeared on her lips as she watched Rusty devoured his omelet, "Please be sure to chew your food Rusty!" Before Rusty had time to reply, her cell phone went off.

"Captain, we got the roommate. Sanchez and Sykes have been watching the house all night. They followed her back to and old house about three miles from campus. Tao is working on the search warrant as we speak. I will text you the address." This early in the morning Provenza was a little grumpier and more to the point than normal.

"Ummm, I have to find a way to get Rusty and Maddie off to school." Sharon paused trying to figure out how she was going to work this out. She needed to be at that house when her team went in, but it was too early to drop Rusty and Maddie of at school.

"Tell the two of them to get ready; Liz already said she would get them off to school." Provenza said and Sharon almost thought she could hear him rolling his eyes at her.

"How did you… Oh never mind. Thank you Lieutenant! And please tell Liz I said thank you as too!" Sharon said before hanging the phone up.

Andy and Sharon meet the rest of the team down the road from the house. Buzz had pulled up an old aerial view of the house to ensure they had possible entrance covered. The team strapped their LAPD vests on and was ready to go when Provenza grabbed Sharon by the arm. "You are the last one in, do you understand me Captain?"

Sharon only nodded, she knew he was right and even if he wasn't they didn't have time to argue about it. Flynn and Sanchez headed towards the back door, Sykes and Tao took the side entrance at the garage, and Provenza and Sharon took the front. Buzz was safely behind, where he would stay until he got an all clear to enter.

They cleared each room on the main floor of the house. Sanchez motioned for Flynn and Sykes to check the upstairs with him as Provenza and Toa headed to the basement with Sharon following behind. Tao was the first one heading down the steps, just as he was approaching the last step a horrible smell caused him to gage. As Provenza followed Tao around the corner, the horrible sight in front of him made him stop dead in his tracks. He quickly turned towards Sharon, "Captain, you don't want to see this."

Sharon moved the sleeve that she was using to help block as much as the smell as she could, "It's my job as much as it is yours Lieutenant. " She walked around him to find Kelly bound to a wooden chair. From a distance, Sharon could tell from the welts on her arms that she had been burned. The thought of how the poor girl had been tortured made Sharon feel ill. She tried not to focus on the nauseous feeling and moved closer to Kelly's lifeless body to better examine the crime scene. The combination of the state Kelly's body was in and the horrible smell was too much for Sharon. She covered her mouth with her hand and ran up the stairs. She pushed passed Buzz and ran outside of the house. She fell to her knees as she reached the grass to the side of the house. The pain was so intense she could hardly stand it. As she leaned over, she felt someone pull her hair back out of her way as she proceeded to get sick. After a few minutes, the same person handed her a folded up hankie and that was when she realized that Provenza had followed her out of the house. As he helped her to her feet he half whispered, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine now." She said as she tried to regain control over her shaking body. Provenza was about to have her go sit down on the porch when Sykes busted through the front door with Abby. For such a small thing, Abby was a feisty one. From the amount of drugs in the bag Sanchez had, she was higher than a kit. The moment Abby saw Provenza something snapped and she twisted her body out of the hold Sykes had on her and flung herself toward Provenza screaming and yelling at him. Provenza tried to anticipate her movements to grab her, but between the speed and the impact of the girl, he was knocked off balance and went heaving towards the ground. The impact from Provenza slowed Abby down, but it also sent her soaring straight towards Sharon. As Abby hit Sharon, the two of them hit the ground rolling. The impact didn't faze Abby all that much because of the drugs, but she Sharon was hit hard enough that it knocked the wind out of her. As the two females struggled on the ground Andy and Sanchez ran over to pull Abby off of Sharon, as Sykes and Buzz hurried to Provenza.

Sanchez had Abby into the squad car within seconds, while Andy looked over Sharon and Provenza to make sure that no one was physically harmed. Tao was already on the phone calling in the corner and Sykes had gone back into the house with Buzz for him to start taping the crime scene. Andy and Sanchez were standing at steps to the porch when Provenza pulled Sharon over to the side of his squad car. "Captain, you need to go to the hospital and get checked out. You hit the ground hard and you know it. You have to make sure everything is okay." he said nodding his head towards her belly.

"I'm fine and I don't want to hear anything else about it." She said as she started to step away from him.

"Sharon, I didn't want to do this, but you have left me no choice. Damnit Sharon, you have to take care of yourself. It's time you told him!" Provenza scolded her, "Flynn get your ass over here. Take her to the hospital to be checked out."

"You're making a big deal about this aren't you?" Andy said as he approached the two of them.

"I don't know, am I Captain?" Provenza growled as he turned back towards Sharon.

"We will meet you back at the station in a few hours." She said turning towards Andy's car.

"I'm sorry, what am I missing?" Andy said as he jogged to catch up with her.

Sharon waited until they were inside the car to answer him. The last thing she needed right now was for the entire squad to hear this conversation. "This isn't exactly how I planned on telling you this," She said as she swallowed down the lump that was forming in her throat. "Andy, I'm… We're going to…. Andy I'm pregnant." She said the last part quickly as she watched him.

"What did you just say?" he asked slowly.

"I'm pregnant." She whispered. She continued to watch him as he just sat there for a moment and then without saying a word he put the car in drive. She looked over at him occasionally as he drove; she wished he would say something. She didn't care if he yelled at her, just as long as he said something. His silence worried her. She whipped a tear away thinking that this was exactly why she was worried about telling him. She was afraid it would push him away again. Andy pulled around to the ER entrance at the hospital and dropped Sharon off. Sharon sat inside filing out the paper work when Andy sat down beside her. She looked up and him briefly, but he didn't look at her. He kept is eyes forward and didn't say a word. The two of them sat in silence until they heard "Sharon Raydor". When Sharon stopped at the nurse, the nurse explained that her husband could come back with her. "Oh he's not," but before she could finish Andy spoke up, "He's coming with her." The two of them followed the nurse into the examining room. After checking Sharon over, the nurse instructed, her that she would need to put a gown on and the doctor would be in shortly to perform an exam.

Sharon sat nervously on the edge of the bed has Andy paced in front of her. After watching him for so long, she started to feel a little dizzy and lay down on the bed. Andy watched her every move, he didn't speak until she let out a sigh as her hand found its way to her stomach.

"Are you in pain?" He said softly as he made his way to the side of the bed.

She tried to speak, but her emotions were deceiving her as tears started running down her checks. She couldn't bring herself to look up at him, as she shook her head no. He watched her as she lie there looking so fragile and broken. The sudden knock at the door started them both. She quickly whipped the remaining tears away and cleared her throat as the doctor entered the room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Raydor, I'm Dr. Lucas; I see here that you had a scare this morning. Let's take a look and see what's going on." The doctor said as he shook both of their hands.

When Andy saw the horrified look on Sharon's face as the doctor stared the exam, he moved over to her side and took her hand in his. Andy gave her hand a little squeeze as the doctor told them that everything was fine, but he wanted a quick ultrasound done since she had not been to the doctor yet. Andy sat down in the chair by her side as the doctor pulled the equipment over for the ultrasound. He took held her hand with both of his as they watch the screen.

"Here we go, just as I thought." The doctors said turning the machine off. "Your baby is perfectly fine. I would recommend that you keep your appointment with your doctor, but I don't see that the events that took place this morning did any harm. Mrs. Raydor, you can get dressed and I will send the nurse in with your discharge papers. "

As Sharon got dressed, she noticed that Andy was still sitting in the chair staring at the monitor. She walked over to him and pulled the other chair up beside his, "I know it's a bit much to take in all at once. Please say something."


	45. Chapter 45

**I know this is a very short chapter, but I promise the next one will make up for it. Thank you all for reading/reviewing and I hope you enjoy the next few chapters! **

Andy leaned back, resting his head on the back of the chair, "When were you going to tell me?"

"As soon we closed this case." Sharon whispered.

"There will always be a case, Sharon." Andy said with such hurt and sadness in his voice that it sent chills down Sharon spin.

"I know, but this case was about finding someone else's child. I couldn't afford for you to be distracted. I wanted to find Kelly before it was too late." Sharon said as she covered her face with her hands, "I wanted to find her before it was too late," she sobbed again.

Andy watched her for a moment before he pulled her into his arms, "Hey, hey come on don't do that."

"I'm so sorry, Andy." She whispered into his shoulder.

"I'm glad I was here to see him for the first time." Andy said as he kissed the top of her head.

Sniffling, Sharon looked up at Andy, "Him? What if he is a she?"

"Then she will be one spoiled little girl." Andy said as he brushed his lips softly against hers, "I love you more than I have ever loved anyone Sharon Raydor." Before Sharon knew what was going on Andy was kneeling on one knee in front of her, "Sharon I can't imagine living another day without. I want to fall asleep and wake up every day with you in my arms. I want to be the best father to our baby that I can be and for Rusty and Maddie too. I guess what I'm trying to say is will you marry me? I know it seems sudden, but I have had the ring for a long time now. What do you say? Will you make me the happiest man in the world and by my wire?"

Sharon brought her trembling hands to her mouth as she started to cry again, "Oh Andy, yes, yes I will marry you." Andy nearly pulled her out of the chair as he wrapped his arms around her. As he cupped her chin in his hand, he brushed the stray tears off her cheek with his thumb as he leaned in to kiss her. Sharon wrapped her arms around his neck to hold him as close to her body as possible. She let out a soft moan as his tongue danced around hers. Lost in each other, the two of them didn't hear the nurse come into the room. Clearing her throat for a second time, she smiled, as they looked up as if two teenagers caught kissing for the first time. After Sharon signed the release papers Andy laced his fingers through hers and the walked back to his car hand and hand.

The first few miles on their way back to the station were silent as they were both in shock over what had just happened. In wasn't until they were sitting at a red light that Andy spoke, "Why is it that you told Provenza?"

The confused expression on Andy's face made Sharon giggle as she answered him, "I didn't exactly tell him. As you have heard, I have morning sickness. How he put two and two together I don't really know, but he followed me into the ladies restroom. Then he lectured me and told me how he couldn't lie to you."

"Who would have thought that it would have taken a Baby Flynn to make him all protective of you." Andy said laughing at the thought of Provenza following Sharon around like a grumpy old watchdog.


	46. Chapter 46

**As promised a much longer chapter, enjoy! **

When Sharon and Andy got back to the station, Tao and DDA Hobbs were in with Abby presenting her with a deal. Sharon watch the monitor as she thought about how much the team had changed over the last few months. She knew they were not all happy with the new direction of Major Crimes, but she had to say, they all had adapted to the changes rather well.

Provenza had been watching her out of the corner of his eye for a few minutes before he spoke, "Did you think we wouldn't be able to handle things while you were gone?"

Sharon couldn't take her eyes off the monitor as she replied, "No, just the opposite actually."

Listening to Abby speak made Sharon sick. Abby explained that Professor Kennedy was only guilt of having intimate relationships with many of his female students. Abby had fallen in love with the Professor and was jealous when he started sleeping with Kelly. When Abby couldn't convince Kelly to stop seeing Professor Kennedy, she took matters in her own hands. "All of this out of jealous," Sharon said shaking her head.

After Tao and DDA Hobbs finished with Abby, Provenza sent Buzz on a lunch run for the team. Once Buzz had left the electronics room, Provenza stood behind the closed door with his arms folded staring at Sharon and Andy. "Which one of you is going to tell me what happened?"

Andy put his hands on Sharon's shoulders hoping she would relax a little as he spoke, "Everything is fine. They did an ultrasound and the little guy was doing just fine." When Sharon cleared her throat Andy chuckled and said, "Little guy or girl."

After updating Taylor with all the details of the case Sharon went back to her office to finish the last of the paperwork to put this case to rest. She jumped when her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She dismissed the reminder on her phone to pick Rusty and Maddie from school. The kids were not happy that they had to start coming to the office after school, but after the break in the other night; Sharon just wasn't comfortable letting them stay home alone.

As the end of the day approached, Sharon looked out to see Rusty and Maddie sitting on an empty desk talking with everyone. Maddie must have noticed Sharon watching because she slid of the desk and made her way to Sharon's door.

"Are we going to leave soon? I still need to grab my swim bag and the coach said he would like for me to get there early to warm up." Maddie said and Sharon could see that she was nervous about the swim meet tonight.

"Yes, why don't you go tell Rusty to gather his things, while I finish up here?" Sharon said as she placed her glasses on her desk.

As Rusty and Maddie got their things together, Andy made his way to Sharon's office, "Tonight her first meet?"

"Yes, if you're not busy I know Maddie would love for you to come and maybe afterwards we can have that talk about the new developments in our relationship." Sharon said with a smirk.

"I'd love to tag along, but I need to grab something from my desk before we go." Andy said with a big grin.

Sharon, Andy, and Rusty sat and watched while Maddie was warming up. She had an extra 30 minutes in the water and Sharon hoped that it would pay off. Maddie had been working so hard for this; Sharon wanted nothing more then to see her daughter win. As the team started to get ready for the first race, Sharon ushered for Maddie to over to her. "When you take your mark, hold your position strong. Those first few second can make you or break you. Don't glide after your dive, you keep those feet moving the moment you hit the water. In your turn, your hand touch should trigger the snap of your hips and knees to your chest. You get your feet to that wall as fast as possible. And Maddie, I hope you know how proud I am of you. I love you so much."

Maddie stood for a moment taking in everything Sharon told her, "I love you too," Maddie, said as she quickly kissed Sharon on the cheek and ran back over to her team.

The moment Maddie hit the water Sharon was on her feet. She was sure she was more nervous than Maddie was. She noted the good start to Andy as he and Rusty exchanged a look, both amused at how nervous Sharon was. "She didn't snap her hips on the turn." Sharon said moving again. The three of them clapped when Maddie took second. When Maddie looked over at Sharon, Sharon gave her thumbs up and then put her hands on her hips. Maddie understood the meaning and nodded her head. Sharon did the same thing for Maddie's second race. As Maddie took the turn, she came out in the lead with a strong stroke. "She's got this one," Sharon said with a sigh of relief and she had, Maddie finished first! When she jumped out of the water, she was so excited she wanted to run over to Sharon, but she knew she needed to stay with her team. As the night progressed, Maddie won her last race, which garneted her one of the starting positions at tomorrow's meet.

After the meet, Sharon and Andy waited for Maddie as she changed out of her wet cloths. When Maddie rounded the corner to where Sharon and Andy were standing they, both laughed at the enormous smile that was painted a crossed Maddie's face.

Wrapping her arms around Maddie Sharon said, "Honey I'm so proud of you! You did such a great job!"

"You're the champ tonight Kid, you get to pick what you want for dinner," Andy said patting Maddie on the back.

"Good job, Maddie!" Rusty said as Maddie approached the car. "Have you decided where you wanted to go to eat?"

"Rusty do you ever think of anything other than food?" Maddie said trying not to laugh at him.

"Where will it be Maddie?" Sharon asked as she turned toward the two of them.

"Can we go to Fu's Palace?" Maddie said looking up at Sharon.

Sharon quickly looked over and Andy. She had been queasy all day and she wasn't sure that she would be able to stand the smell of Chinese right now, but she didn't want to disappoint Maddie and she didn't want to tell Maddie and Rusty about the baby just yet.

"You know what, I really need to wash the chlorine off of me…Can we just order out from the diner by Andy's house? I could really go for their spicy chicken fingers and fries." Maddie said rubbing her stomach.

"I think we can arrange that." Andy said as he gave Sharon's hand a little squeeze.

When they got back to Sharon's house Andy took down everyone's orders. He told Sharon that he would take Rusty to help him get dinner so she could rest a little. He hoped that she would try to take a little nap, but he knew that it was very unlikely.

When Rusty walked back into the kitchen Sharon was resting her head on Andy chest as he leaned back on the counter. He was glad that the two of them seemed to be working through whatever issues that had. "Hey are we going to get dinner some time soon or are you two just going to stand there like that all night?"

"Why don't you two take my car? That way Rusty can get in a little driving practice." Sharon said tossing her keys to Rusty.

"Cool! Thanks!" Rusty said with a big grin.

Andy leaned down and whispered something in Sharon's ear before he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"If you two keep this up I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to eat!" Rusty said rolling his eyes.

Once Andy and Rusty were off Sharon made her way upstairs to check on Maddie and change into something a little more comfortable before heading back down to load the dishwasher. Sharon was nearly done with the dishes when the doorbell rang.

"I got it." Maddie yelled as she tucked her ipod in her pocket.

"Is your Daddy home?" The older of the two men said once Maddie opened the door.

"My dad?" Maddie said with a confused look on her face.

"Come on kid, is Flynn here?" The older man asked trying to look around Maddie.

"No, he just left to go get us dinner. Are you friends of Andy's?" Maddie asked.

The two men looked at each other and then pushed Maddie back inside the house causing her to let out a scream. When Sharon heard Maddie, her body froze for a brief moment and she dropped the coffee cup she had been holding. She quickly stepped over it and ran to the front door. When she turned the corner, she saw two men holding Maddie by the arm. The younger man yelled at her the moment he saw her, moving his jacket to the side so she could see his gun. She stopped dead in her tracks. She could feel heart beat pounding in her chest as fear ran though her veins. All she could think about was Maddie.

"Just tell me what you want. No one needs to get hurt." Sharon said trying to make eye contact with Maddie.

"Where is your ex-husband?" The older man growled.

"I have no idea." Sharon said confused by the question.

"Don't play games with us. We saw him get out of the car when you got home." The man said pulling Maddie a little closer to his side.

"I can assure you that my ex-husband has never been to this house." Sharon said trying to stay calm.

"I have had enough of your games; tell us where Flynn is NOW!" The older man said and Sharon knew this was not going to end well.

"He went out to pick up dinner." Sharon said calmly as she was trying to come up with a plan to get Maddie away from them.

"Then it looks like you lovely ladies are going to have to take a ride with us." The older man said as he pushed Maddie to his partner and took a firm grip on Sharon's arm.


	47. Chapter 47

As the men pulled Sharon and Maddie towards the door, Sharon knew that her options were limited. Her gun was upstairs under lock and key and even if she were able to break free, they would still have Maddie. She wasn't willing to take the risk and so she did the only think she could, she went without a fight. Once inside the vehicle, she pulled Maddie to her side and held her there tightly as she whispered, "I won't let them hurt you, but you must do exactly as I say. No matter what! Do you understand?"

Maddie nodded in agreement, as she nuzzled her head into Sharon's side as she started to cry. Trying to keep Maddie clam, Sharon started rubbing her back as she pulled her as close to her body as she could.

Once Maddie calmed down Sharon, spoke to the two men, "If you tell me what my ex-husband has done, perhaps I can help straighten this out."

"I don't think we have anything to straighten out. You're Ex-husband will have to learn the hard way about what happens when he crosses the Cartel." The older man said as he turned around eyeing Sharon and Maddie.

"My ex-husband has no involvement with the Cartel." Sharon said watching the older man.

"Don't play games with me, I have no problem putting a bullet in your head right here." The older man growled.

"I can assure you that Andrew Flynn is not my ex-husband, nor is this his daughter." Sharon said trying to keep her voice as steady as possible.

"You expect for me to believe that you allowed a stranger to move into your new house with you and your two children out of the kindness of your heart? Do you think I was born yesterday? "The older man said as he leaned over the side of his seat.

"I allowed him to stay with us because he was a friend who was in needed of somewhere to stay while he recovered from a work related injury. " Sharon said hoping that the Cartel weren't fully aware of the nature of her relationship with Andy.

"If he was only your friend, why did he come running to your house in the middle of the night when you alarm went off? I don't believe we saw any of your other friends show up. Did he really think the Cartel would just forget about him? And the FBI detail, what a joke!" The older man said with a laugh.

A shiver ran down Sharon's spin as all of the pieces started to fit together. Closing her eyes, she knew that she had to quickly come up with a plan.

As Rusty put Sharon's car in park, Andy noticed that the door leading into the house from the garage was cracked. A sudden jolt of fear ran through his veins. After the other night, he knew that there was no way Sharon would be so careless as to leave the door open like this. Pulling his gun out he told Rusty to stay in the car. As he moved into the kitchen, he saw that dishwasher open and a broken dish on the floor. He swallowed hard as his mind started racing though all of the possible things that could have happened. He wipes the beads of sweat off his forehead as he moves to the next room. Once he has cleared every room he pulls out his phone and calls Provenza. Making his way back down to the garage he has no idea how he is going to tell Rusty that Sharon and Maddie are gone.

"Andy, that's not funny." Rusty says as he tries to push his way around Andy.

"You can't go in there Rusty. The team is on their way, we have to go over every inch of this house for evidence." Andy says and by the unsteady tone in his voice, Rusty realizes that this is no joke.

Rusty sat on the front porch watching Andy and Provenza talk, as the rest of the team was going through the house. Both men turned when a black SUV pulled in front of the house. They both instinctively reached for their guns. As the saw Agent Howard get out of the SUV, they both knew that this was a very bad sign.

"What the hell are you doing here Agent Howard?" Provenza growled.

Looking over at Rusty sitting on the porch Fritz's replied, "The FBI caught wind of possible home invasion at this address and sent me over right away."

"How would the FBI have heard about this so fast?" Andy said running has hand through his hair.

"We have heard some chatter about the Cartel. It's said that they have a new guy running things in this area and he wants to show them that he is as every bit as good as he says he is. I'm guessing he came here tonight to show them just how good he is." Fritz said as he watched Andy digest the information.

Andy turned away from the two men as he tried to keep his temper and his emotions under control. All he could think about was Sharon, their baby, and Maddie. Knowing that he was the reason their lives were in danger caused his chest to tighten. He moved towards the garage door. He placed his hand firmly on the door trying to steady himself. He suddenly felt weak, as if his legs would give out on him at any moment. As he stood there gathering his thoughts, he could feel anger growing inside him, when he took his fist and punched the garage door as hard as he could. Rusty jumped at the loud noise. Moving towards the drive way he stood froze as he watch Andy hit the door again.

"Can you have Brenda come get Rusty? He doesn't need to be here for this." Provenza said before walking over to Andy.

"The kid is watching, pull yourself together." Provenza said in a firm voice as he motioned for Rusty to stay where he was.

"I can't lose her again." Andy whispered as he looked over his sore hand.

"Listen to me. She is smart. She will take care of herself and Maddie. We will find her Andy, we will find her." Provenza said as he cleared his throat.


End file.
